For a while, CollectA lumped their terrestrial arthropods, reptiles, and amphibians under their ‘Insects’ collection. That collection is now referred to as Little Wonders and has two subcategories: Insects and Spiders and Reptiles and Amphibians. I have always loved CollectA’s insects and spiders. Unlike their ungulates and dinosaurs, they are not always the most exotic …
Ever since CollectA started releasing collections of mini dinosaurs based on their larger and standard-size dinosaurs, I knew that if they ever released a set of mini arthropods, it would represent miniature versions of their Insects and Spiders Collection. I was correct. I was not expecting it 2020, but at least I had figured out …
Walkaround of the Mexican red-knee tarantula, Brachypelma smithi (P-Cambridge, 1897) by Schleich, released in 2019. I am going to start with a little taxonomic disclaimer. There is confusion to the identity of spiders referred to as Mexican red-knees, since the description of a cryptic sibling species, B. hamorii Cleton and Verdez, 1997. The two species …
Transferring over one of my walkarounds of Bullyland’s insects and arachnids, today we look at the lady bug, or more precisely the seven-spotted lady beetle, Coccinella septempunctata Linnaeus, 1758. There are two figures, one with the elytra closed and one with the elytra partially open, revealing the flying wings; both figures were released in 1994. …
Calappa lophos, commonly known as the red-streaked box crab or the common box crab, is a species of box crab (Calappidae) endemic to the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean, including Andaman Sea and the waters around Taiwan, Japan, and Australia. For years, this species has been widely ignored by most manufacturers, with only three …
This is a review of the set Exotic Beetles, released by Play Visions in 1998. This is was one many small theme-based sets released by Play Visions in the mid-to-late 1990s, and one of 6 that were arthropod-centric. Today Play Visions figures are among the most sought-after by collectors! This review today is a glorified …
Review and images by Isurus; edited by bmathison1972 This figure today is “Living Thing Series No. 23 Chinese Mantis” from Fujimi Mokei. This figure is marketed as the Japanese giant mantis, Tenodera aridifolia, but was painted as the Chinese mantis, T. sinensis, since the species occurs here in Korea. The two species have a complicated …
Insect Lore is a company that primarily makes products for the observation and study of living insects (nets, rearing containers, magnifying glasses, ant farms, etc.). In the 2000s, they made life cycle sets of select insects. These were really nice sets that featured original sculpts, including a couple rarely-made species (mealworm beetle, American painted lady). …
Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. Those are the names of the Great Lakes of North America that boarder the central/east United States and Canada. In total area they represent the largest freshwater lakes on Earth, holding roughly 20% of the world’s surface freshwater and 9/10ths of the water supply for the United States. The …
This is a modified version of the walk-around I did for the Animal Toy Forum. Walk-around of what is probably my favorite figure, the Japanese firefly (also known as genji-botaru), Luciola cruciata Motschulsky, 1854 by Kaiyodo, No. 45 in the Natural Monuments of Japan line. The species has been made a couple times, including previously …