The insect life of Japan broadly corresponds with that of temperate regions in Europe. But there are also a number of tropical species, notably among butterflies and beetles. The latter--for which the generic term in Japan is _mushi_ or _kaichu_--include some beautiful species, from the "jewel beetle" (_tama-mushi_), the "gold beetle" (_kogane-mushi_) and the _Chrysochroa fulgidissima_, which glow and sparkle with the brilliancy of gold and precious stones, to the jet black _Melanauster chinensis_, which seems to have been fashioned out of lacquer spotted with white. There is also a giant nasicornous beetle. Among butterflies (_chocho_) Rein gives prominence to the broad-winged kind (_Papilio_), which recall tropical brilliancy. One (_Papilio macilentus_) is peculiar to Japan. Many others seem to be practically identical with European species. That is especially true of the moths (_yacho_), 100 species of which have been identified with English types. There are seven large silk-moths, of which two only (_Bombyx mori_ and _Antheraea yama-mai_) are employed in producing silk. Fishing lines are manufactured from the cocoons of the _genjiki-mushi_ (_Caligula japonica_), which is one of the commonest moths in the islands. Wasps, bees and hornets, generically known as _hachi_, differ little from their European types, except that they are somewhat larger and more sluggish. The gad-fly (_abu_), the housefly (_hai_), the mosquito (_ka_), the flea (_nomi_) and occasionally the bedbug (called by the Japanese _kara-mushi_ because it is believed to be imported from China), are all fully represented, and the dragon-fly (_tombo_) presents itself in immense numbers at certain seasons. Grasshoppers (_batta_) are abundant, and one kind (_inago_), which frequent the rice-fields when the cereal is ripening, are caught and fried in oil as an article of food. On the moors in late summer the mantis (_kama-kiri-mushi_) is commonly met with, and the cricket (_kurogi_) and the cockroach abound. Particularly obtrusive is the cicada (_semi_), of which there are many species. Its strident voice is heard most loudly at times of great heat, when the song of the birds is hushed. The dragon-fly and the cicada afford ceaseless entertainment to the Japanese boy. He catches them by means of a rod smeared with bird-lime, and then tying a fine string under their wings, he flies them at its end. Spiders abound, from a giant species to one of the minutest dimensions, and the tree-bug is always ready to make a destructive lodgment in any sickly tree-stem. The scorpion (_sasori_) exists but is not poisonous.