Nymphs of mayflies et al are normally hiding behind/beneath rocks under water and/or vegetation along riverbanks. Come to think of it, the imago from them appears openly before us humans only when there is artificial light (; my post last week). Otherwise, they continue living their hide-and-seek lives after metamorphoses. It’s ditto for non-aquatic insects on average. Those dragonflies, butterflies, and wasps would be exceptions. Territorial guys come to check if we intend to do any harm. When we run excited with insect nets after a golden-ringed dragon fly, the bug’s concern is met … Sorry, guys. Butterflies come to visit cute flowers with their beautiful wings, that stands out … Hmmm, why do they have such flashy wings in the first place? Anyway, the majority insects prefer having a quiet life. So, when we do field study for insects under direct sunshine and sweltering heat of summer, we really do not have much opportunity to catch a bag with our nets. Moreover, the kinds of insect we meet in this approach is limited, for sure. We Forest Instructors do bugs count regularly, but we realize there is room for improvement in our approach with nets. This year, a new method is introduced. It’s Beating.
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| A beating net |
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| This
guy does not need beating to meet. Tettigonia orientalis. |
The way of thinking for beating method is simple. Bugs are hiding in bushes or trees. We situate a beating net below the tree or bush, and beat the bush or tree to shake off the bugs clinging to them. The insects fall to the net, and we can study these guys scooped. It’s not the way to capture dragon flies or butterflies, but this summer we’ve met new kinds of bugs that are not so common to find by sweeping with nets. Here are some we’ve encountered this summer in Yadoriki Water Source Forest やどりき水源林:
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| Paratrachelophorus longicornis |
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| Dromius |
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| Ariamnes cylindrogaster. It’s still small. They can be 30cm or so long. Maybe it’s a baby. |
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| Keijia sterninotata with an egg sac |
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| Aphrophora
intermedia. So, it’s the author for bubbles inside the forest (; my post on June 24, 2022). |
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| Tetragnatha praedonia |
We beat several kinds of tree, and the guys falling down are the bugs known to love to live in these trees. Er, well, yeah, of course. Paratrachelophorus longicornis came from Euptelea polyandra. Aphrophora intermedia likes to be in broad-leaved trees, and we found it under sweet smell of Cercidiphyllum japonicum. These bugs are not large as swallowtail butterflies, but certainly cute. They live wisely hiding in the leaves known for them to love … Hmmm, these are very conservative creatures. Oh, so they can be an indicator to measure the health of the forest, I presume. Sorry guys, disturbing your quiet life.
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| Beating Euptelea polyandra |
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| Taller person has an edge to do this task nicely. |
By the way, the office for Niiharu Citizen Forest 新治里山公園 does professional counting for Mecopoda nipoesis every last Saturday of August. This year, they did it and the coordinator Ms. Yoshitake for the office said, “Look, this year it’s draught! We have found only 1 bug from our regular research field! Weather? Global Warming? Or too much mowing by the Lovers?” Oh my … Of course, they are indicator species for our planet.
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