While walking through the neighborhood between Kyomizudera and the Yasaka shrine this morning, we were startled by several large, black butterflies. The first time I saw one I caught only a glimpse of it, and I thought it might be a bat or a small bird (although, yes, it was the wrong time of day for it to be a bat). They’re at least as large as a monarch, completely black, and have unusually shaped rear wings. They passed by fairly quickly so I didn’t have an opportunity to photograph them, and I’m not having much luck with Google image searches, which is too bad because they’re quite strange-looking.
We also saw a large preying mantis with bright green wings land on the lapel of gentleman carrying shopping bags in both hands. He didn’t seem terribly pleased by its presence and somewhat awkwardly shook it off. I didn’t want someone to step on it so I scooped it up from the walkway. It flew off and landed on a nearby roof. I’ve seen them in Boulder a few times, but this one was the largest I’ve seen–about five inches long.
