Found

I disturbed this caterpillar when I replaced the morning glories with fall plants. It will be a hummingbird moth. I thought it had already taken off but it didn't. It ate the morning glories and then went under the soil in the planter.

This is what it looked like before it went underground. In the middle of September, it was green. Sorry, this is a photo of a pooping caterpillar. Or is it? I thought that was its mouth.

Soon, it turned brown and black.

It turned black and then went underground. I saw it wriggling around on the ground trying to move the soil. I put it back in the planter.

I disturbed this slug when I added flowers to the pot near our entrance. I think it's going to be a Japanese rhinoceros beetle. Sorry, this photo is blurry because there wasn't much light. I was gardening in the early evening. I put this back under the soil, too.

Caterpillar Crawling

The garden is crawling now with caterpillars and young ladybugs. Toto is keeping an eye on this one climbing the screen door. I moved it out of danger because Toto and her sister Nana were very interested in it.

I moved it onto one of great grandfather's bonsai trees. I don't know what the caterpillar will be. I can't find it in any of our bug books. I'll keep my eye out for it.

Another Morning, More To Enjoy

These morning glories are on our balcony. (We live on the second floor.) The picture was taken while standing in the roof garden on the third floor. These are Japanese morning glories.

Baba's towels hanging in the morning sun. A blanket is below the balcony.

This caterpillar was eating the taro (satoimo) down the street! We can't find him in our book so we don't know what kind of butterfly or moth he will be.

Remains of Summer

All of the stores are putting out fall displays, but there are still remains of summer. During the summer, these plants crop up everywhere. Along the streets like this clump or at the garden gate, they are unplanned but are a sign of summer. Some people pick stems to use as cat toys. Summer feels like it is ending. It could be the typhoon that is approaching.





I was told that kemushi, one kind of moth caterpillar, lays its eggs on the fluffy part of the plant. We have to be careful because the hair of the kemushi burns or blisters skin. This caterpillar is most likely a moth, but I'm not sure it is a kemushi. Little Brother insists that is. Look at the orange dots. Amazing.

As it turns out, this caterpillar looks like a Painted Lady butterfly .

At the Temple Entrance in a Small Town in Niigata Prefecture

These things were hanging on the fence at the entrance to the temple grounds. You may have heard the story of the thousand cranes. Cranes are made and strung and presented to someone who is ill or is having hard times. I have heard varying accounts of what is done with the cranes afterwards. It seems someone brought them here as an offering. These are tiny cranes. Strings of a thousand cranes usually make a huge display. A piece of cloth and straw sandals are hanging next to the cranes.



This is a detail of the gate of the entrance to this temple. You see lots of dragons (there is one above this), but I have never seen this creature. It looks like an elephant.




I have never seen this creature before, either. It looked cute and fuzzy waddling along on this stone, but it looked a little like a moth caterpillar called kemushi. The hair of the kemushi is not as long and there is a yellow stripe down its back. Touching its hair will sting and burn your skin. This may not be in the same family, but I stayed away from it anyway.




This is the first green-eyed dragonfly I have ever seen.

On Our Yuzu Tree

We have a yuzu tree in a pot in the garden. It has been in the same spot for many years. Yuzu is a citrus fruit. Here in Japan, people put the whole fruit in the bath at the winter solstice. Imagine taking a bath with fruit floating in it! The zest or peel of yuzu is also used in winter broth and the oil is used in bath products.

Usually, caterpillars eat all of the leaves and all of the blossoms on our tree. Last year, however, our tree produced several yuzu. They were small and hard, but we were able to use them in the bath. This year the tree is covered with these caterpillars again.

These are not pictures of the same caterpillar. They are different caterpillars at different stages. I don't have pictures of the caterpillars' beginning stages. Here it is when it is brown and crusty.


Then a big smooth caterpillar breaks out. I watched this one break out, turn around and start eating the brown coat.



I searched on the internet and I think they will be swallowtail butterflies. At least I hope so. A few years ago, we took a caterpillar that was devouring our gardenia bush and put it inside. I thought I could save the remaining leaves on my gardenia bush by offering it something else, but the caterpillar would only eat gardenia leaves. We fed it and watched over it. Finally a big ferocious-looking bug burst out. We chased it out of the house. Who knows it could have bitten someone. We're still not sure what it was. We'll leave these caterpillars where they are. We'll keep an eye on them to see what they morph into. I hope it's something we'll all enjoy because look what they've done to our yuzu tree!



P.S. They were swallowtails!