Tag - insects

 
 

INSECTS

Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 31, 2019
Nagano promotes its aquatic larvae delicacy
Ina in Nagano Prefecture hopes introducing a younger generation to aquatic larvae fishing will help save the dying tradition.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 21, 2019
Why do zebras have stripes? Because they make bad landing strips for flies
Scientists are providing new evidence to answer the long-standing question about why zebras have stripes. It appears stripes make terrible landing strips, bamboozling the fierce blood-sucking flies that try to feast on zebras and carry deadly diseases.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 20, 2019
Japanese researchers extend life span of flies, offering hope for slowing aging in humans
Japanese researchers pin down a way to activate autophagy, a key metabolic function in cells, leading to a slower aging process and longer life span in a nonhuman study.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Dec 10, 2018
Bug business: Cockroaches corralled by the millions in China to crunch waste
In the near pitch-dark, you can hear them before you see them — millions of cockroaches scuttling and fluttering across stacks of wooden boards as they devour food scraps by the ton in a novel form of urban waste disposal.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2018
Edible insects hit supermarket shelves in U.K.
Fancy some roasted crickets for a light snack? Look no further than in the local supermarket aisles.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 16, 2018
Bugs struggle amid Japan's record summer heat
Specialists in Hyogo believe populations of mosquitoes and beetles have suffered this year as the moist environments where their young thrive have dried up in the heat wave.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Jul 23, 2018
Kids cheer on their bugs at the Kabutomushi Sumo Competition
The National Kabutomushi Sumo Tournament, where rhinoceros beetles are made to fight on tree branches instead of sumo rings, was held recently in Yamagata Prefecture.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Oct 27, 2017
Research into reverse-sex genitalia deserved award
In caves in Brazil there lives a tiny insect with the most extraordinary story. It feeds on bat droppings and chews on the dead carcasses of fallen bats. When it copulates, it does so slowly — a single sexual act takes up to 70 hours, or three full days. But that's not even the oddest thing about it. In this species the female has developed a penis, and the male a vagina.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Sep 18, 2017
Nagoya teen brings 100 paper insects to life at an art exhibit
With just a pair of scissors and plain drawing paper, Shinichiro Ishikawa, a 15-year-old high school student from Nagoya, can quickly create lifelike cutouts of insects such as a pink mantis poised to take down its prey or a yellow swallowtail butterfly with its wings spread wide.
COMMUNITY / Voices / OVERHEARD
Aug 19, 2017
A sting in the tale
'There's nothing quite like the terror of an angry wasp trapped in an enclosed train carriage.'
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2017
Aggressive South American fire ants found at Kobe port
Red fire ants were found late last week in a container yard at the port of Kobe after some first turned up in a container that had passed through the port last month, the Environment Ministry said.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 11, 2017
Ramen flavored with insects attracts thrillseekers in Tokyo
Within about four hours, the Ramen Nagi restaurant had sold out of the 100 bowls of "insect tsukemen" noodles it had prepared for Sunday's single-day event.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 27, 2017
Japan's coveted cherry blossoms and other ecosystems threatened by alien species
Spring has come — the season when cherry blossoms bloom nationwide.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 13, 2017
Tokyo bar adds fear factor to Valentine's Day by putting edible insects on the menu
Tired of the usual box of chocolates? Try a bug cocktail or a caramel creepy crawly for Valentine's Day.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2016
Hornets sting over 110 runners in Gifu marathon
Medical personnel said 115 people taking part in a marathon Sunday in Hida, Gifu Prefecture, were stung by hornets, but no one suffered serious allergic reactions.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Nov 2, 2015
EU agency declares bugs fine for feasting on
Houseflies, crickets and silkworms can be safe, nutritious and serve as an environmentally friendly alternative to chicken, beef or pork, researchers say.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 18, 2015
Endangered grasshopper found in Nagano for first time in 50 years
Several red-winged grasshoppers (akabane-batta in Japanese), categorized as likely to become extinct in Japan, have been spotted in a grassland area in Nagano Prefecture, where they had not been seen in five decades, prefectural officials said.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Feb 7, 2015
Natural strategies to cope with winter
Jan. 19 is officially the coldest day of winter. Called daikan (major cold), the day coincided with some truly bitter weather in northern Japan this year. The mercury plummeted to minus 27.3 in Furano, central Hokkaido, and minus 31.3 in Esashi in the southwest, and remained cold for at least a week. Sitting indoors, I am largely oblivious to the temperature outside. I'm fortunate enough to be insulated from the cold by barriers formed by windows, walls, multiple layers of clothing and a decent heater. I feel almost subtropical in comparison to the frosty landscape outside my window.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Dec 13, 2014
Twelve ways to spend 2015 with nature
As 2014 winds down and the promise of another year lies ahead, it's time to come up with a few New Year's resolutions. Instead of planning for the future or trying some new-fad diets or exercise regimes, how about a resolution to spend a little more time connecting with our wonderful natural world?
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 14, 2013
Waiter . . . there's a bug in my soup
The crickets chirp before they are thrown into a pan, sauteed in vegetable oil and turned into crispy, crunchy snacks. They are one of the three toppings offered on crackers as hors d'oeuvres; a jam made from ants and rice grasshoppers boiled in a sweet soy sauce complete the insect triumvirate.

Longform

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces