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ANIMAL TRACKER

Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jan 13, 2003
Bee hawkmoth
* Japanese name: Sukibahoujyaku * Scientific name: Hemaris radians * Description: Bee hawkmoths belong to the moth family Sphingidae. They are large moths (wingspan 37-40 mm) able to fly at high speeds (hence the name hawkmoth). Caterpillars are bright green and recognizable by the black spine on the last segment of the body. Adults have a heavily furred body, orange with black stripes, mimicking that of a bee. The head has large compound eyes, the thorax is also large and the abdomen protrudes beyond the hindwings when the insect flies. The forewings are longer than the hindwings * Where to find them: Adults can be seen flying from May to late July. Caterpillars feed until autumn, when they pupate in soil. Bee hawkmoths and the caterpillars can be seen in parks, gardens, open woodland and grassy meadows. Unlike many other moths, which are nocturnal, bee hawkmoths fly during daylight, particularly at dawn and dusk. When resting, the wings are held rooflike over the body. * Food: Nectar from trumpet-shaped flowers. The excellent flying ability of bee hawkmoths allows them to sip nectar from flowers using their haustellum (tongue), which is kept tightly coiled when the insect is not feeding. The tongue is at least as long as the moth's body. Caterpillars eat the leaves of plants and can be serious pests of crops such as tomatoes. * Special features: The caterpillars, growing up to 5 cm long, raise their ferocious-looking black horn when startled and face the disturbance head on. This sphinx posture gives the family its scientific name of Sphingidae. The stance helps protect the caterpillar against possible predators such as birds, but the adults rely on mimicry. The large body with its thick, beelike fur means that bee hawkmoths must expend lots of energy in order to fly, but the benefit of that extra effort is great: The resemblance to bees prevents many predators from attacking the moths.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Dec 30, 2002
Carrion beetle
* Japanese name: Yotsu boshi hiratashide mushi * Scientific name: Dendroxena sexcarinat * Description: The full name of this insect is the Japanese four-spotted carrion beetle. It is 15 mm long, with a flat, orange body with four black spots. The body is unusually flexible for a beetle. Carrion beetles belong to the family Silphidae. * Where to find them: Carrion beetles are common in mountainous temperate regions, forests and woodlands, and urban areas. A good place to find them is in the carcasses of roadkill (not that poking around in dead animals is a pleasant thing to do), although the adults can also be seen on bushes and trees. The adults are attracted to light. Carrion beetles are sometimes found in human corpses that have been exposed to the elements. * Food: The adults and larvae feed on fly maggots and the rotting flesh of dead animals, but adults have also been known to hunt and eat caterpillars. The carrion beetle's body is flexible because the insect needs to squirm through the decomposing tissues of small carcasses. Eggs are laid on the carcass, and the life cycle after hatching goes through the three stages common to all insects which undergo metamorphosis: larva, pupa and adult. * Special features: As soon as a bird, mouse or other small animal dies, its body is up for grabs by a range of different creatures. Probably the first to arrive at the site of a carcass are the blowflies, but ants, fungi and bacteria will all quickly establish themselves. Carrion beetles are highly sensitive to the odors released by rotting flesh, and can pick up the scent from a kilometer or more away. They have special olfactory organs on their antennae, which are flattened and shaped into clubs to increase the surface area and so improve their ability to smell. The beetles arrive at a carcass during the early to middle stages of decomposition, which is why the larvae of carrion beetles often get to feed on fly maggots.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Dec 16, 2002
Groundhopper
* Japanese name: Hishibatta * Scientific name: Formosatettix japonica * Description: Groundhoppers (also known as pygmy grasshoppers) are in the same order (Orthoptera) as crickets and "regular" grasshoppers, but they are smaller (less than 20 mm long) and sturdier. Like their orthopteran relatives, groundhoppers have short, thin antennae and, most obviously, a large pair of hind legs. They have two pairs of wings, but only the hind wings are used for flight; the groundhopper's fore wings are vestigial. In grasshoppers and crickets, the hind wings are protected by a thickened pair of fore wings, but instead, groundhoppers have a distinctive shieldlike covering called the pronotum that extends over the abdomen. The brown-black body of groundhoppers has a granular texture. * Where to find them: In moist and muddy parts of fields and woods, and also alongside streams. Females lay their eggs in mud at the beginning of the rainy season. The larvae look like miniature versions of adults, and they grow through five or six stages before they become mature. Each time they molt, they swallow air to expand their bodies and split their old cuticles (skins). * Food: Algae and other plant-derived organic material on the surface of wet soil and mud. Groundhoppers have two pairs of mandibles that chew from side to side, allowing them to thoroughly process the plant material before swallowing it. They are preyed upon by birds, snakes, frogs and other insects, particularly robber flies. * Special features: The femur (the equivalent to the thigh bone) of groundhoppers is extremely well-developed and muscular. It is adapted for leaping, and groundhoppers, which are small compared to grasshoppers and crickets, can jump relatively long distances. Sometimes after defecation their dung gets stuck to their hind legs, so, for purposes of hygiene, they kick out to fling the dung out of the way. They are among the few members of the Orthoptera that can survive the winter as adults. Their excellent camouflage makes them difficult to spot. Unlike their relatives, they have no hearing or "stridulatory" organ. This means they can neither hear nor stridulate (make chirps like crickets and grasshoppers). So they are rarely seen and never heard.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Dec 2, 2002
Click beetle
* Japanese name: Ubatamakomeshiki * Scientific name: Paracalais berus * Description: Click beetles have a hinged body and a spine beneath the thorax that fits into a groove under the abdomen. They are 16-19 mm long, with flattened, elongated, bullet-shaped brown bodies. Also known as snapping, break-back and elater beetles, they belong to the family Elateridae (from elate, or to raise up). Female click beetles lay eggs in soil. There is a four-stage metamorphosis, as in bees and butterflies: egg, larva, pupa and adult. The larvae are very slow-growing, taking three years to reach the pupal stage. Pupation takes place in rotting logs or underground. The adult beetles emerge in the spring and are active until September. * Where to find them: Click beetles are found in deciduous woods and in areas with cherry, apple and oak trees. In summer they are often found in houses, attracted to the lights. * Food: The adults drink nectar from flowers. As larvae, they are known as wireworms and can cause extensive damage to crops by chewing stems and roots. * Special features: If click beetles find themselves upside down or are knocked over, their short legs are not much use in helping them right themselves. Instead the click beetle arches its body: The beetle is now cocked. When the mechanism is released, the spine fits into the groove under its abdomen with a loud "click," and the body snaps straight with enough force to fling it into the air. As well as the unique click mechanism, these beetles play dead very well, tucking their antennae and legs close to their bodies and not moving. The click and the play-dead behavior seem to be antipredator adaptations. A bird picking up a click beetle gets a big surprise when the insect clicks loudly and twitches, and might well drop it. The insect is then likely to fake death.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Nov 22, 2002
Oily cicada
* Japanese name: Abura zemi * Scientific name: Graptopsaltria nigrofuscata * Description: The body length of this large cicada is between 32-40 mm as an adult. Like any true bug, the wings are held over the body and form an upside-down V-shape. The mottled wings look like they have a coating of oil -- hence the name. They extend behind the body, making the total length of the insect up to 60 mm. It has a black-brown head and abdomen, and green veins on the wings. The song of the oily cicada (made only by the males) is more familiar than its appearance, however: a piercing screech that winds up stronger and stronger. * Where to find them: This is a common and popular cicada in Japan, found on trees in fields, forests and mountainous areas, from July to September. This species is more common in eastern Japan, while another (Cryptotympana facialis) is more common in western Japan. Oily cicadas are also seen -- but more often heard -- in towns and cities, including Tokyo. There are three life stages: egg, nymph and adult. Eggs are laid into holes cut into branches (egg-laying can cause damage to the trees), and when they hatch, the nymphs (which look like wingless adults) fall to the ground and dig themselves in. * Food: Like all true bugs, cicadas have piercing mouthparts. They use these to penetrate tree trunks and drink the sap within. The nymphs use similar mouthparts to drink the liquid from tree roots. * Special features:Although the adults only live for a few weeks, the nymphs live underground for years, passing through five nymphal stages. The empty shell of the final nymphal stage can often be found on tree trunks. The long nymphal stage -- up to six years in this species -- makes cicadas very long-lived for insects. In fact the longest living insect of all is the periodic cicada, which emerges in large broods in the southern United States after 17 years as a nymph. Because of its unpredictable emergence en masse, the periodic cicada has almost no predators and can cause extensive damage to trees.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Nov 15, 2002
Ryukyu damselfly
* Japanese name: Ryukyu hagurotonbo * Scientific name: Matrona basilaris japonica * Description: The Ryukyu damselfly is a sturdy, brightly colored insect. At 51-65 mm long, it is large for a damselfly. Males have brilliant electric-blue bodies and two pairs of dark-blue wings, although there is a sky-blue pigment nearer the wing base. Females are drab compared to males, having transparent, slightly brown wings. Their bodies are green. * Where to find them: In Okinawa and Amami Oshima, flying over and perching on the banks of clean mountain streams and rivers. Females visit streams to lay their eggs in plants growing in the water. They have a sharp, knifelike ovipositor (egg-layer) that they use to cut a hole into plant stems before inserting an egg. * Food: Other flying insects, such as mayflies. Damselflies are carnivores and possess strong biting and chewing mouthparts. Larvae spend one to two years underwater, depending on the amount of food they can catch -- if they eat lots of food, they can develop faster. Then they climb out of the water and transform into winged adults, living for four to six weeks, again depending on the food supply. * Special features: The group of damselflies to which the Ryukyu damselfly belongs (the Calopterygidae) are unusual in that they have highly developed fighting and courtship displays. Males fly at each other, beating their forewings but holding their hindwings open, in ritualized, looping flight patterns. While the ritual minimizes the risk of physical damage, the damselfly uses up lots of energy to fly like that, and only males in good condition can keep it up for long. During courtship, males float on the surface of the streams, holding their hindwings out for the females to examine. If the female likes what she sees, they copulate. When they mate, males have another trick, not up their sleeves but on the second segment of their abdomens, next to the thorax. This is the location of the penis, and in damselflies and dragonflies it is more like a Swiss Army knife than a penis. The Ryukyu damselfly's penis has horns on the head like those of a ram, and it uses the horns (covered in backward-pointing barbs) like a pipe cleaner, to clean out the female's genitalia of all the sperm that might be stored inside from other males. In this way he ensures that when the female lays her eggs next, she uses his sperm and not that of a rival.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Nov 8, 2002
Loggerhead turtle
* Japanese name: Ao-umigame * Scientific name: Caretta caretta * Description: Turtles are reptiles with limbs modified into swimming paddles. Loggerhead turtles have a characteristically large head, but they don't have a big brain: It's their jaws that are large. The reddish-brown carapace of adults is 70-100 cm long, and they weigh around 165 kg. Adult males can be distinguished from females by the tail, which extends well beyond the carapace. Loggerheads may live for more than 50 years. * Where to find them: Loggerheads prefer tropical and subtropical waters, but they are the only species of sea turtle that will nest in temperate areas. In Japan they live south of Ibaraki Prefecture on the Pacific Ocean side, and south of Noto on the Sea of Japan side. Only the females ever leave the sea -- about 3 or 4 times a year in spring and summer -- to lay their eggs on quiet beaches or in grassy vegetation. However, because of intense predator pressure, few baby turtles survive. Loggerheads are a threatened species, due to human use of nesting beaches, beach pollution and the accidental trapping of turtles in shrimp nets. * Food: Loggerheads are omnivorous, but with such powerful jaws it's not surprising to learn that crustaceans such as horseshoe crabs, oysters, mussels and clams form an important part of the diet. Loggerheads also eat sponges, jellyfish, fish, seaweed and sea grass. * Special features: Humans and most other animals have sex chromosomes. This means (for humans) that if you have a Y and an X chromosome, you are male. If you have two X chromosomes, you are female. But like many other reptiles (including most snakes), loggerhead turtles don't have sex chromosomes. Instead, the temperature at which the eggs are incubated determines the sex of the offspring. This means that egg clutches laid in southern, tropical climes tend to produce more female turtles than clutches laid in northern, cooler climes. The optimum sand temperature for loggerheads is 29 degrees.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Nov 1, 2002
Earwig
* Japanese name: Hasami mushi * Scientific name: Dermaptera species * Description: Earwigs are small (20 mm long), dark-colored insects with flattened bodies and a semi-circular, very thin pair of wings. The wings are elaborately folded under tiny elytra (wing cases), and it is the nature of the wing (thin, like sunburned, peeling skin) that gives the order its scientific name: Dermaptera means "skin wing." Earwigs have long antennae, up to 50 segments long. But the most obvious thing about earwigs, and their easiest identifying feature, are the forceps on the end of the abdomen. In males they are curved, in females they are straight. The function of the forceps is not clear -- they are sometimes raised, scorpion-like, over the abdomen when the insect is threatened, and they are sometimes used when males wrestle. The forceps give earwigs their Japanese name, meaning "scissor insect." * Where to find them: All over the country, all year round (though they tend to be less active in winter). Earwigs are nocturnal, and during the day they like to squeeze into dark, narrow crevices so that they can feel contact on their upper and lower bodies. Turning over rocks and stones is a good way to find them. * Food: Earwigs are omnivorous scavengers, eating everything from flower petals to carrion and small living insects. They have simple biting jaws. Despite the sharp forceps, earwigs are not harmful to humans. * Special features: Female earwigs care for their offspring, a rare thing in insects. The mother lays her eggs into soil and tends them during the winter, collecting them together if they become scattered. When the eggs hatch in spring, the nymphs are fed by their mother and stay in the soil until their second molt. Even after the young earwigs emerge from the soil, their mother continues feeding them, and in spring sometimes a group of earwigs -- the mother and her offspring -- can be seen on a family outing. Mating takes place before winter, and it is here that the unprepossessing earwig shows another remarkable feature: Males have two, extremely long penises (sometimes longer than their bodies). The female has only one reproductive tract, but it is also very long, a convoluted tube. Sometimes during copulation, the male's penis breaks off from his body and is lost inside the female. This is not as disastrous as it might be, because, Japanese research suggests, the male can simply use his spare penis.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Oct 25, 2002
Mantidfly
* Japanese name: Himekamakirimodoki * Scientific name: Mantispa japonica * Description: Mantidflies are about 25 mm long. They belong to an unusual order of insects, the Neuroptera (the name means "network wing"). Like other neuropterans, such as lacewings, mantidflies have two pairs of fine, delicately veined wings, equal in size. They also have an elongated body and prothorax (a "neck"). However, the forelegs of mantidflies are long, strong and sharp, modified to catch prey. The forelegs (and the triangular head) are characteristic of another insect, the praying mantis. * Where to find them: In woodlands and grasslands from Honshu to Kyushu, June to October. Adults are attracted to ultraviolet ("black") light and can also be found by dragging a sweep net through vegetation. Mantidflies lay clusters of up to 1,000 eggs on leaves. Eggs hatch in 11 to 30 days. * Food: Mantidflies have chewing mouthparts. The larvae are parasitic, inhabiting the egg sacs of ground spiders and wolf spiders. They feed on the spider's eggs, and when fully grown, the larvae spin cocoons and pupate. Larvae may also prey on the larvae of wasps and bees, sometimes depleting hives. Adults are diurnal (active during the daytime). They alight on flowers of thistle and other plants, preying on plant-feeding insects (aphids, lady bugs, stink bugs). According to some reports, mantidflies are cannibalistic. * Special features: The prominent raptorial forelegs of mantidflies would seem to suggest that they are related to mantids, but the praying mantis, in fact, belongs to an entirely different insect order (the Mantodea). Cats and horses, for instance, are in different mammalian orders, so it's clear that mantidflies and praying mantises must be very different from each other because they don't belong to the same insect order.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Oct 18, 2002
Stag beetle
* Japanese name: Miyamakuwagata * Scientific name: Lucanus maculifemoratus * Description: This is a large, reddish-black, heavily armed (and armored) beetle. Males have a fearsome but elegant pair of antlerlike jaws, about 15 mm long, with sharp teeth. Body length ranges from 43-72 mm. Females do not have such huge jaws, and their bodies are smaller, about 32-39 mm. Despite their relatively mild appearance compared to the males, however, female stag beetles can give quite a nip. The male's jaws are too large to close hard. * Where to find them: From Hokkaido to Kyushu, from July to August, in woodlands and forests, especially in mountains where oak trees grow. Miyamakuwagata are different from other Japanese stag beetles; they don't lay eggs in rotten trees. Eggs are laid in layers of dead leaves and wood at the base of dead trees, where the leaves are half-transformed into soil. Here, they hatch into larvae, and then crawl into the dead tree, where they can grow, protected. * Food: The larvae feed on the dead wood and decomposing leaves into which they hatch. Adults feed on the sap leaking from wounds in trees. * Special features: Male stag beetles have a wide range of lengths, with size variations of up to 30 mm, but the size variations in females are all within 6 or 7 mm. Size distribution in males is clustered toward each end, meaning that most male beetles tend to be either small or big, but not in between. Why? The reason is that for adult males, there are two ways of going about fulfilling their genetic role and copulating with a female: They can fight another male, or they can skulk around, try to get past a big male and copulate with his female. In other words, there are two tactics for getting females. It is best to be big if the male is going to fight his opponent (the fights take place on the trunks of trees, males wrestling each other with their jaws, attempting to flick the opponent off the trunk). For the female there is only one way to be successful (be big with lots of eggs), and so females don't vary in size as much as males do.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Oct 11, 2002
Red damselfly
* Japanese name: Beniito tonbo * Scientific name: Ceriagrion nipponicum * Description: The red damselfly is small (body length 34-41 mm). Damselflies can be distinguished from dragonflies (both in the insect order Odonata) by the way they perch. Damselflies rest with their wings folded together over the body, dragonflies with the wings spread out flat. The damselfly's eyes are separated on the head (dragonfly eyes meet in the middle of the head). * Where to find them: Around water, particularly slow-flowing streams, from Honshu to Kyushu between May and October. * Food: Other small insects. Damselflies and dragonflies have excellent vision for catching prey. They have huge compound eyes with up to 30,000 facets, giving them -- when the head is swiveled -- 360-degree vision. The larvae live underwater and spend one year growing. The larvae also eat insects, catching them with jaws that form a sort of mask on the head. When the prey is in range, the jaws spring forward, impaling the insect. * Special features: Damselflies and dragonflies are an ancient order of insects and retain some primitive traits. They develop by growing and molting: They do not undergo complete metamorphosis, like butterflies, and their larval form looks essentially like the adult, except for the wings, which are formed during the final molt.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Oct 4, 2002
Sea cucumber
* Japanese name: Torafunamako * Scientific name: Holothuria pervicax * Description: Despite their name, sea cucumbers are not plants but animals, close relatives of sea urchins and starfish. They are all echinoderms, and members of this group are radially symmetrical. This kind of symmetry is most familiar in the five-pointed shape of the starfish, but in sea cucumbers you can only see it if you chop one in half: Then you would see five strips of muscle inside the body wall, running from front to back. Sea cucumbers grow to anywhere between 2 cm and 2 meters long. They have many small, sucker-tube feet on which they feebly move across the ocean floor. The mouth is surrounded by 10 to 20 retractable tentacles. * Where to find them: In the seas all around Japan. Sea cucumbers, like earthworms, are present in huge numbers, sometimes comprising 90 percent of the animal biomass of marine systems. In Japan they are eaten raw. * Food: The diet of sea cucumbers is another way in which they resemble earthworms. Sea cucumbers feed on detritus -- dead pieces of plant and animal matter that accumulate on the sea bed. They are recycling machines, vacuuming mud and sand. "Processed" sand is passed out through the body. * Special features: For unassuming animals, sea cucumbers have two amazing abilities. First, they can change their tissue structure from "fluid" to "solid," and back again. Echinoderm means "spiny skin," and reminds us of the hard spikes of sea urchins. But the spikes of sea urchins can turn from fluid form to solid form because they are made of a compound called collagen. This property allows sea cucumbers to squeeze easily into a crack in a rock, then wedge themselves in by solidifying their tissue. Predators (or Japanese fishermen) then have a big problem pulling them out. If they are caught in the open, they can use their second defensive ability -- to eject all their internal organs, including the gut, through their mouth or anus. The shock of such an eruption is often enough to make a predator change its mind about eating the animal. The empty body of the sea cucumber does not die, however: It regenerates its organs and continues to vacuum sand.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Sep 27, 2002
Moon jellyfish
* Japanese name: Mizukurage * Scientific name: Aurelia aurita * Description: Moon jellyfish are soft-bodied, transparent animals that swim by gently undulating their bell-shaped bodies. They range in size from 5 cm to 40 cm in diameter. Unlike what you may have expected, size is not an indication of age, rather it reflects how well the jellyfish has been eating recently: A dinner plate-size jellyfish will shrink to the size of a 10 yen coin without food. The body is divided into eight lobes, containing sense organs for balance. There are four horseshoe-shaped gonads, yellow in females and purple in males. There are also four "oral arms" surrounding the central mouth, and a fringe of about 250 stinging tentacles. The sting is very mild and has almost no effect on humans. * Where to find them: In the seas all around Japan, mostly near the coast. They prefer warm seas, but can tolerate very cold water. * Food: Jellyfish are carnivorous. They feed on plankton and on the developing larvae of other animals, such as mollusks, crustaceans, copepods and rotifers. They will also eat eggs and diatoms. Food collects on the surface of the jellyfish and gets stuck in the mucus, from where it is passed to the mouth opening and the stomach. The jellyfish propels itself upward in an undulating motion, simply to keep near the surface of the sea where the food is. * Special features: Reproduction in jellyfish is as bizarre as might be expected from such alienlike organisms, but it is still done by the transfer of sperm to the female. Instead of a penis, the male releases sperm via special filaments, and the female draws it in and fertilizes her eggs. Her embryos develop for a few days on her oral arms, before falling off, after which they drift to the bottom of the ocean and become polyps. In a process called strobilization, each polyp buds off into several tiny jellyfish. Over the next four months, the babies grow into adult jellyfish called medusa. Most of them only live for six months.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Sep 20, 2002
Japanese oakblue
* Japanese name: Murasaki shijimi * Scientific name: Narathura japonica * Description: If you catch sight of a butterfly flitting through the trees, it is likely to be an oakblue. The oakblue is a small (14-22 mm long) butterfly. Its black-bordered wings have beautiful, iridescent blue patches. It flies in quick, short bursts, during which the blue color on its wings can be clearly seen. The pretty spotted underside of the wings is visible when the oakblue perches with its wings folded up, but it often perches with its wings open, in sunlight, to warm itself. The caterpillars of this species (and of all the butterflies in the family Lycaenidae) are flattened and woodlouse-shape in appearance. * Where to find them: In hilly parts of Honshu from Kanto westward, in evergreen broadleafed forests, from June to October. Oakblue caterpillars hatch from eggs two to four times a year. Adult butterflies that emerge from their pupal stage late in the year will hibernate over the winter. * Food: Flowers, flower buds and the young leaves of flowers in evergreen (and sometimes deciduous) forests. * Special features: The caterpillars of most species of butterfly have good reason to fear ants, because ants will eat them. But oakblue caterpillars form a remarkable relationship with ants and are often surrounded by them, without being harmed. On the abdomen of these caterpillars is a gland called Newcomer's organ, which secretes a honeylike fluid rich in sugars and amino acids. Ants are very fond of this secretion and queue up to feed on it. The cuticle (skin) of the caterpillar is thicker than usual, to protect against accidental ant nibbles. The relationship doesn't only benefit the ants -- the caterpillars get personal bodyguard protection. Every morning, the caterpillars are guided to their favorite plants by the ants, and each evening, they are guided back and into the safety of the ants' nest. In this way, the relationship between ants and caterpillars is much like that between a farmer and his cows. The caterpillars of several other species of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae also form relationships with ants, and in some species even the adult lives underground in the ants' nest.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Sep 13, 2002
Giant hornet
* Japanese name: Oo-suzumebachi * Scientific name: Vespa mandarinia japonica * Description: This monster is the largest social wasp in the world. Workers grow to between 25 and 35 mm long, drones (males) up to 45 mm long, and queens a startling 55 mm in length. Giant hornets have wide, orange heads and large, powerful mandibles (jaws). The wings are smoky-brown, the thorax is black and the abdomen is unmistakable: black-and-orange stripes. The compound eyes and the ocelli (the three simple eyes on the top of the insect's head) are dark brown. * Where to find them: In mountainous and wooded areas all over Japan, from April to October. Giant hornets build nests from wood, which they chew up and mix with saliva to make pulp. But if you see a hornet's nest, beware of approaching it. * Food: Other insects, especially other wasps and bees. When a solitary hornet discovers a bees nest, she marks it with a secretion. This attracts other hornets to the nest, and they launch a massive attack on the bees, crushing them in their jaws at a rate of up to 40 per minute each. When the bees have been wiped out, the hornets feed on the helpless bee larvae inside. This attack devastates nests of European honey bees (introduced relatively recently to Japan), but Japanese honey bees have evolved a countermeasure. Facing a hornet attack, around 500 bees surround the hornet and form a tight, vibrating ball. The temperature inside the ball quickly rises to 47 degrees, which kills the hornet. (Bees can tolerate slightly higher temperatures, so they don't die.) * Special features: Giant hornets can fly at up to 40 kph and can cover 100 km in a day. They have a sting that can be dangerous to humans. The stinger is a modified ovipositor (egg-layer) that is connected to a venom sac inside the body. Unlike bees, wasps can withdraw the stinger and puncture the skin again, repeatedly injecting venom. Queens use their ovipositor to lay eggs, so they can't sting. Neither can males, because they don't have an ovipositor in the first place. The workers, however, are sterile females, and they are the ones to watch out for.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Sep 6, 2002
Dung beetle
* Japanese name: Oosenchikogane * Scientific name: Geotrupes auratus * Description: Dung beetles are robust, powerful insects with an excellent sense of smell. They are metallic-green with a red tint and are 17-22 mm long. The antennae of this family of dung beetles end in a dull club-shape. * Where to find them: From Hokkaido to Kyushu, April to November. Woodlands and fields are the best places to look for dung beetles -- but watch where you step. * Food: Oosenchikogane feed on dung. Although it may seem unlikely, dung is actually rich in nutrients. The mouthparts of dung beetles are not formed in the usual biting pattern, because the food they process is soft and semiliquid. Instead of chewing, these beetles suck and strain at their food. Oosenchikogane have a preference for cow dung. The larvae eat the fiber of dung as well as the juices and have chewing mouthparts. * Special features: To the ancient Egyptians, dung beetle larvae symbolized the god Khepri, who represented reincarnation and who, they believed, had created himself out of the raw matter of the earth. The Egyptians were not far off the mark: Dung beetles do seem to construct themselves from the earth. When they catch the scent of fresh dung, adult beetles fly toward it. Then, adults of both sexes use their powerful legs to excavate shafts in the earth beneath the dung pile and stock them with dung. After copulating, the female lays small eggs in the buried dung. When the eggs hatch, the larvae are kept safe in an underground brood chamber, with their food all around them. They feed until they are plump grubs and then pupate, emerging as adult beetles. The adults are mobile recycling machines: They bury far more dung than is eaten by the larvae, thereby providing a useful service by removing dung from the surface and aiding the return of nutrients to the soil.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 30, 2002
Harbor seal
* Japanese name: Zenigata-azarashi * Scientific name: Phoca vitulina stejnegeri * Description: Harbor seals are pinnipeds -- mammals adapted to life in the ocean. Their limbs are modified into flippers, each with five digits. The fore flippers are used for grooming, scratching and fighting; the hind flippers for propulsion. On land they move by undulating like caterpillars. Seals have coats of short, thick fur, from nearly white with dark spots to black/dark brown with white spots. Males are 174-186 cm long, and weigh 87-170 kg. Females are slightly smaller, 160-169 cm and 60-142 kg. Pups are about 80 cm when born, weighing about 10 kg. * Where to find them: Around Hokkaido. Harbor seals don't like warm waters, but might occasionally turn up farther south. * Food: Inshore shallow water fish species such as flounder, sole, herring, cod, whiting and eel; also mussels, crabs and squid. Harbor seals tear their prey into chunks or swallow it whole. They have strong molars to crush shells. * Special features:Females become sexually mature at around 3 years. This is when they arouse the interest of males, who initiate courtship behavior. The male chases the female, embracing and biting her. Their play -- rolling, bubble-blowing and mouthing each other's necks -- continues in the sea, where copulation takes place. Males may mate with more than one female. For the most part, harbor seals are solitary animals, but they sometimes "haul out" of the water in groups. They do this to aid digestion, to rest, to warm up, to give birth, to nurse pups and to molt. Haul-outs might also protect the seals from predators, such as killer whales and sharks. Even during haul outs, however, harbor seals don't like to touch each other. If they do, aggression usually results: snorts, head thrusts and threatening waves of the flipper.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 23, 2002
Common octopus
* Japanese name: Madako * Scientific name: Octopus vulgaris * Description: Octopuses are cephalopods, the most complex and advanced of the mollusks. They have short, round bodies and, of course, eight arms joined by a web of skin. The arms are covered with suckers. Octopuses move by jet propulsion, by squirting water from a funnel-like opening in their bodies. In Japan, the common octopus grows to between 60-90 cm long; females weigh about 5 kg, males 6-8 kg. * Where to find them: All around Japan, usually at the bottom of the ocean. They spawn twice a year, around April/May and again in October. Females lay around 250,000 eggs, which hatch into plankton and float on currents for about a month before settling onto the seabed. In Japan, around 45,000 tons of octopus are caught every year. * Food: Crabs and lobsters, which are caught in their arms and devoured with the help of a sharp, beaklike mouth. * Special features: Many zoologists consider octopuses to be as intelligent as dogs, and they certainly have the most complex brain of all invertebrates. Octopuses have long- and short-term memory and solve problems by trial and error. Once solved, octopuses use the experience to solve similar problems in the future in the same way. When they are threatened, octopuses have a couple of surprises to help them escape. They can release a cloud of ink (they have enough stored for several emissions) and jet away under its cover. This defense must be used carefully, however, as if the octopus is stuck in a cave without adequate water flow, when it releases its ink it may sicken or even die because the ink has toxic effects. The second trick is chameleonlike: octopuses can change color to match their surroundings.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 16, 2002
Japanese crayfish
* Japanese name: Nihon zarigani * Scientific name: Cambaroides japonicus * Description: Japanese crayfish are crustaceans, the same as shrimps and crabs. They have a flat, segmented body and 5 pairs of legs. The first three pairs of legs are spineless claws, and the front pair are enlarged. If legs or claws get broken off (this might happen when males fight), they are regenerated. There are a pair of sensory antennae and two eyes on movable stalks. The body is usually 4-5 cm long, but can be up to 7 cm. To grow, crayfish must molt their hard exoskeleton. At this stage the crayfish is soft and vulnerable to predators. Before their new shell hardens, the body increases in size. * Where to find them: All over Hokkaido and the Tohoku region of northeastern Japan. Crayfish live in clean water and hide in holes in stones and hollows in gravel and sand. They can't tolerate warm water and so are confined to the north. * Food: Plant and animal matter. Crayfish prefer algae and aquatic plants, but will also eat worms, tadpoles, small fish and insect larvae and dead animals. Fish such as bass and trout are predators of crayfish. To escape danger, crayfish flick their tails, which quickly propels them away. * Special features: Crayfish become sexually mature in their second year. Mating takes place from July to September, but the female stores the sperm in a special receptacle in her abdomen for later use. When she lays her eggs in the autumn, she releases the sperm and the eggs are fertilized. The eggs then stick to the bottom of her abdomen -- and stay there, safe under their mother, until they hatch in spring. Females carrying eggs are said to be "in berry" because the eggs look a bit like berries.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 9, 2002
Chestnut tiger
* Japanese name: Asagi madara * Scientific name: Parantica sita * Description: Chestnut tigers are large butterflies, with a 43-65 mm wingspan and a striking blue-green marbled pattern on the wings. The body is black with white spots. Butterflies from this family (Danaidae) are also distinctive because their front legs are vestigial -- they are useless for walking. Males have a black mark on their hind wings. They fly lazily, in a laid-back manner, without really moving their wings much. Despite their large size, chestnut tigers are rarely attacked by birds, probably because their bright colors indicate they have tough bodies that taste bad. * Where to find them: All over Japan, but especially in Kanto, from April to November. Chestnut tigers appear once or twice a year, depending on the weather and food conditions. They can be seen from the cities (even central Tokyo) to the mountains and woods. They are most easily spotted around mikan (Japanese mandarin) trees, okatorano (joe-pye weed) and hiyodoribana (loosestrife). * Food: Nectar from flowers, especially from those in the milkweed family. * Special features: Migration. Despite their apparent laziness, chestnut tigers can fly at great altitudes and can travel huge distances. How can such a small animal travel so far? By drifting along on seasonal winds. The butterflies store fat in their abdomen to see them through the long journey. From April to June, they migrate northwards; from September to November, they return south to lay eggs. Many chestnut tigers travel 1,000 km. In an exceptional case, one marked in Hakuba in Nagano Prefecture was later found 1,784 km away on Miyako Island.
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