Bugs of Japan

It’s summer here in Japan, and that means bugs! Really big, really cool bugs! So to celebrate, here are some of our best bug pictures:

Jumping spiders:

Shinjuku Garden in Tokyo:

May actually be a lynx spider, not a jumping spider. Hard to tell from this angle.

This one may also be a lynx spider.

Fushimi-Inari Shrine in Kyoto:

Possibly Phintella abnormalis?

Probably Plexippus paykulli, now found all over the world.

Unknown salticid.

Beach in Uraga, near Tokyo:

This one’s an ant mimic (Myrmarachne), possibly Myrmarachne japonica.

Everything else:

Caterpillars mimicking things!

Caterpillar that mimics bird poop, probably a giant swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes)

Spicebush swallowtail (Papilio troilus), whose back end mimics a snake.

A cute little moth.

A skipper butterfly (Hesperiidae)

A  land snail (Euhadra amaliae) crawls along a wall

A small praying mantis.

Carpenter ants (Camponotus japonicus) carry the remains of a worm.

The husk of a cicada.