Kumoherikamemushi

Leptocorisa chinensis - kumoherikamemushi

Leptocorisa chinensis - kumoherikamemushi

Deep, Dark Pit

Fencepost of the Week #120

O Hai!

Siler cupreus - aoobihaetori

Small, brightly coloured jumping spider says "hi!"

Gomigumo

The gomigumo - rubbish spider - Cyclosa octotuberculata - disguises its presence by arranging the husked carcasses of its prey around it in its web.

Gomigumo - rubbish spider - Cyclosa octotuberculata

Gomigumo - rubbish spider - Cyclosa octotuberculata

Gomigumo - rubbish spider - Cyclosa octotuberculata

Gomigumo - rubbish spider - Cyclosa octotuberculata

Mukade

A large Japanese centipede - Scolopendra subspinipes - out for a daytime wander through the flowers.

Lentinus arcularius

Monday Mushroom #107

Lentinus arcularius - アミスギタケ

A small, elegant polypore of rotting deciduous wood. It has a fuzzy cap margin and can be found at any time from spring through to autumn.

Look Closer

Coprinellus micaceus - glistening ink-cap

I was admiring the black, squiddy heads on some expired ink-caps on a rotten tree stump yesterday. When I got closer to photograph them I discovered a whole world of tiny, little things growing beneath.

Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa, 

The white pom-poms are a slime mould - Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa, I haven't identified the tiny, orange cup fungi, yet.

Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa

Deceased Longhorn Dismantling

Pied longhorn beetle being dismantled and used to make more ants.

ゴマダラカミキリ - Anoplophora malasiaca - pied longhorn beetle (deceased)

ゴマダラカミキリ - Anoplophora malasiaca - pied longhorn beetle (deceased)

Mossy Top

Fencepost of the Week #119

Stripes

A young nihon tokage - Japanese skink - Plestiodon japonicus showing off its stripes and vivid blue tail. 

nihon tokage - Japanese skink - Plestiodon japonicus

While it is not the best camouflage, the stripes and the bright colour at the end conspire to cause predators to strike behind a moving skink's current position - either missing the target entirely or hitting the tail which the skink can detach in a life or death situation.

Wrinkly Little Red Mushroom

Monday Mushroom #106

Here's a rather small, but well formed ヒイロベニヒダタケ- Pluteus aurantiorugosus. 

Pluteus aurantiorugosus - hiirobenhidatake

Pluteus aurantiorugosus - hiirobenhidatake

Both the Japanese and latin names refer to its stirking cap colour and wrinkly texture.

Pluteus aurantiorugosus - hiirobenhidatake

Tobacco Snail Graze-marks

Tsumaguroyokobai

Bothrogonia ferruginea - tsumaguroyokobai

A large, yellow leafhopper from Kyoto, Japan.

Hoary, Back-lit Lichens

Fencepost of the Week #118

Dark Spotted Frog

A couple of colour variations on Pelophylax nigromaculatus - the dark-spotted frog, a common species of water frog in Japan.

Pelophylax nigromaculatus - dark spotted frog

Pelophylax nigromaculatus - dark spotted frog

White Lumpy Weevil

A lovely, large weevil from Japan. I think it mimics bird droppings.

Shirokobuzoumushi - Episomus turritus

Shirokobuzoumushi - Episomus turritus

Shirokobuzoumushi - Episomus turritus

The Night Toad

I was out watching fireflies last night, and I met a toad, on a bridge.

Bufo japonicus - Japanese common toad

Bufo japonicus - Japanese common toad

Bufo japonicus - Japanese common toad

Bufo japonicus - Japanese common toad

Lichen Copse

Fencepost of the Week #117

Tree Frogs on the Farm

 Here are some photos of moriaogaeru - forest green tree frogs - Rhacophorus arboreus.

moriaogaeru - forest green tree frog - Rhacophorus arboreus

moriaogaeru - forest green tree frog - Rhacophorus arboreus

moriaogaeru - forest green tree frog - Rhacophorus arboreus

They lay their eggs on branches overhanging bodies of water, cocooned in thick globs of protective foam. When the eggs hatch, the tadpoles will drop into the water below.

tree frog egg clusters overhanging an irrigation channel