This is the English version of the following article.

I come across a lot of different insects when I look after the plants in the garden. When I go out to see how my roses are growing, I end up looking for insects. Even during the day I often find myself thinking about how to protect the roses and vegetables from them. In this way, insects are always on my mind during the warm season.

There was a rose weevil walking carelessly around the rosebuds. It wasn't eating anything and didn't seem to be doing anything harmful. When I put the photos side by side, it looks kind of cute. How strange. You might think I'm an insect lover, but of course I'm not.

Rose weevils often drop when you touch them, so you can easily catch them by holding a cup of water under them and poking them with a pair of tweezers in your other hand. I missed catching them at first because I didn't know how they behaved, but now I'm sure this method works most of the time. If you have problems with rose weevils, why not try this method? You can work without directly touching the insects.

I have often seen insects flying that remind me of rose sawflies. Like rose sawflies, they have black wings and an orange body, but when I look closely at the one that is resting, its face is also orange, its wings are shiny and its shape is rounder than rose sawflies. I looked them up online, hoping they would be harmless to my plants, only to find that they are called cucurbit leaf beetles and they are harmful to some plants.

Should I avoid planting cucurbits such as pumpkins and cucumbers? It's important to be careful anyway, as they seem to feed on other things besides these vegetables, such as leaves, flowers and roses. I wonder if these insects have made holes in the leaves.

Ladybird... Hmm, something seems wrong. This ladybird-like insect with strangely long antennae also seems to be some kind of leaf beetle. They like trees like fragrant olives, so I understood why there were so many holes in the leaves of the fragrant olive. But the one in the photo is walking on a rose leaf. Will it eat the rose leaf? Roses are very popular with insects.

Small black caterpillars are sometimes found on the leaves of the wisteria and roses. They behave individually, so I can cut off the leaf with a caterpillar or put sticky tape on it and throw it away. But I'm a bit scared. If I fail, it will hang by its own thread. I don't know what they are. They might be gypsy moth caterpillars.

Also, a slightly fancy green and yellow bug is relaxing behind a rose leaf. What is it doing? Is it going to have lunch? It seems they are called green rice leafhoppers and they suck sap from plants. I failed to catch the bug, but I had never seen the leafhopper before and have not seen any since.

While there are insects that feed on plant leaves or suck sap from plant buds and shoots, there are also grateful insects that feed on these pesky bugs. Hoverflies have appeared in the Thunberg's meadowsweet, which is full of aphids. Be careful not to catch them by mistake, just because they look strange with their white jagged bodies.

Thyme is still in bloom here and there, although its bloom will soon be over. Bees buzzing in the flowers look cute. I am sorry to surprise them with my scream when I found aphids, caterpillars and other insects in the small garden.

*I may be wrong about insect names. If you find a mistake, please let me know. Thank you very much.