Metamorphosis

Both Kei and Dan, like virtually all Japanese boys their age, are into bugs. All types of bugs, but particularly beetles. Keeping beetles and other insects has a long tradition in Japan, and recently the Mushi King animated game fad has transformed interest into addiction on the part of all males aged between two and six. (At six they graduate to Pokemon, according to Kei, who passed over all his jealously guarded Mushi King cards to Dan his first week after starting school.)

So, we keep beetles. Beetle larvae, to be precise. Two white, squirming things the length and diameter of my index finger, with uncountable legs and great chomping jaws. They were a present from the boy next door, who to his mother's consternation now has about 40. At some point during June they are supposed to pupate, after which we should hopefully have two Giant Atlas Rhinoceros Beetles nosing around in their tankful of earth. They are going to stay there, too - I'm trying hard to see the charms of giant rhinoceros beetles as opposed to, say, cockroaches, and one of them is definitely that I know where they are at all times...

We also have a tank of suzumushi, Japanese bell crickets. When they're fully grown they look a bit like little black grasshoppers, but in the nymph stage they resemble nothing so much as silverfish. They chirp appealingly in late summer evenings, which is traditionally supposed to make you feel cooler. I rather like them, and they're easy to look after - spray with water once a day and stick in a bit of cucumber or aubergine for them to munch on, and they're happy.

Next to them are the tadpoles. They only arrived a couple of days ago, when I managed to get to the wonderful iris gardens at Shirakita Park and noticed them wriggling in the muddy water around the roots of the flowers. Kei has seen it all before, but Dan is fascinated by the idea that they'll turn into frogs and is looking for their legs to appear at least six times a day. We also have a large tank of goldfish and a black-and-white cat whose name translates as Plum Blossom, but they provide much less excitement.

Today's real thrill, though, has been the butterfly. Citrus trees are a magnet for swallowtail butterfly caterpillars, and I'm constantly brushing the tiny brown ones off our little lemon tree before they chomp their way through it wholesale. A couple of weeks ago we found one I'd missed, which had grown green and huge - a dead ringer for Eric Carle's hungry caterpillar. We brought it inside and fed it (sparingly) with lemon sprigs, and it duly spun itself into a chrysalis attached to the top of the tank. Then this morning Kei came rushing upstairs to tell us the butterfly had emerged. Fortunately it was still unfolding and drying its wings when we woke up, and hadn't had time to damage itself against the sides of the tank. We took it outside as the boys left for school and kindergarten, and left it on the porch to find its way out into the world.

We've kept caterpillars before, and daycares and kindergartens have them in virtually every classroom. But no matter how many times I see it happen, metamorphosis is a miracle every time.