Robust Cicada (Insects of Japan Vol. 1 by Yujin)

The robust (or min-min) cicada (Hyalessa maculaticollis) is a cicada that owes it’s name to it’s cry which goes like “min—minminminminmi…” it is well known in Japan. This is a review of the figurines Yujin made of this species.

Oncotympana was used for the speciesuntil now, but it was changed to Hyalessa because it was proven different from true Oncotympana species from the Philippines. At the time Yuijn released the figurines it was still called Oncotympana maculaticollis. Hyalessa maculaticollis is found in China, Japan, the Korean Peninsula and maritime areas of Russia. In Japan it is distributed from the Oshima Peninsula in southern Hokkaido to Honshu, Kyushu and the surrounding islands. It is mainly a forest insect but is also known to live near cities.

Adults are about 33-36 mm in length. It has a narrow head and a thick and short abdomen. However, the wings are large relative to the body, and when the wings are included, they are almost the same size as the brown cicada. The body color is white near the boundary between the chest and abdomen with light blue or green spots on a black background. There are also individuals with almost no black spots and mainly bluish green, that are called mikadominmin. This colour change may be an adaptation to a warmer distribution range/habitat, losing the heat absorbing black.

There are three figurines made of this species by Yujin. The initial one was released in The Insects of Japan in Colour Series 1 (2005), series code 15. The renewed one was released in the renewed and revised Series 1 (2006), series code 24. The colour morph (mikadominmin) adult was released as a bonus that came with a special collection box for all figurines from series 1 and 2. They are like all Yujin Insects of Japan figurines scale 1:1. The figurines measure 5.7 cm (From head to wing tip).

The detail in these three figurines is great and the colouring is very good. Especially in the revised and renewed version and the special colour morph.

Yujin released Series 1 two times. In the first release in 2005, the species was released under series code 15. Later in 2006 all insects in this series were updated, refined or even had an added colour morph. The revised and renewed versions were released under series code 24.

The Figurines