The blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) is a species of swimming crab of the family Portunidae that ranges along the Atlantic coast of North and South America, from Cape Cod to Argentina. It has also been introduced to European and Japanese waters but nowhere is the blue crab better known and beloved than in the Chesapeake Bay area of Maryland and Virginia.
Classification: Arthropods
Miyama Stag Beetle (Insect Hunter by F-toys)
5 (2 votes)
Today I again decided to explore my entomological roots and again used a random number generator to decide which figure to review. It landed on number 241, which in my Excel file is the current location of the Miyama stag beetle (Lucanus maculifemoratus) that was produced by F-toys for the 2011 release of their Insect Hunter line.
Yanbaru Long-armed Scarab (Yanbaru Creatures by Colorata)
3.7 (3 votes)
Today I decided to go back to my entomological roots, and with nearly 2,000 insect and arachnid figures, I decided to use a random number generator to decide for me. And so here we have the Yanbaru long-armed scarab, Cheirotonus jambar, that was released in 2017 by Colorata for the Yanbaru Creatures box set.
Golden Ghost Crab (Colors of the Animal Kingdom by Yowie Group)
5 (3 votes)
I was debating on whether or not to post before Christmas, but I got a cool new figure in the mail today, so I said, let’s do it! So today I am reviewing another Yowie figure for the Blog. This time it is the golden ghost crab, Ocypode convexa, from the recently-released series, Colors of the Animal Kingdom.
Sydney Funnel-web Spider (Bullyland)
Giant Deep-sea Isopod (Dango Mushi 05 by Bandai)
5 (4 votes)
Review of the giant deep-sea isopod (Bathynomus giganteus) by Bandai, released recently in November, 2019 for the fifth set in the Dango Mushi Line. I am not going to go into too much detail on the animal itself, as this was covered when the species was first introduced to the Blog.
Australia’s Deadliest Nature Tube (Wild Republic by K&M International)
4 (3 votes)
Review of the Australia’s Deadliest Nature Tube, by K&M International for the Wild Republic line. The set was released in 2018. To be honest, I bought this set specifically for the three arthropods, since I am a completist when it comes to arthropods identifiable to the species level. However, now that I am building a Synoptic Collection, I thought I could use the octopus too.
Orange-striped Shrimp Goby (Another Aquarium by For Corporation)
3.7 (3 votes)
I had not planned on another post so soon, but since the blog has been kinda quiet, I thought I would transfer over one of my walkarounds. This time, the orange-striped shrimp goby, Stogonobiops yasha Yoshino et Shimada, 2010 that was released as part of the line called Another Aquarium by the company For Corporation (yes, that is the name of the company).
Giant Deep-sea Isopod (Nature Techni Colour by Kitan Club)
4.5 (4 votes)
Review of the Kitan Club Nature Techni Colour Giant Isopod, Bathynomus giganteus, Milne-Edwards, 1879. The figure was released in late December 2014. Bathynomus giganteus is the largest known species of isopods although it has been considered that other species within the same genus may rival it in size.
Golden-ringed Dragonfly (The Insects of Japan Vols. 1 and 3 by Yujin)
5 (2 votes)
The Golden-ringed dragonfly (in Japanese Oniyanma) Anotogaster sieboldii is the biggest dragonfly in Japan. It is also known as jumbo dragonfly or Siebold’s dragonfly. It is the largest species of dragonfly in Eastern Asia (Japan, China and the Korean Peninsula). It can reach a lenght of 100 mm. The A. sieboldii nymph lives three to five years, moulting up to ten times and growing as long as five centimeters during the process.
Female, male (flying) and nymph.
Snail-eating Ground Beetle (Capsule Q Museum: Japanese Animal Collection, Tohoku by Kaiyodo)
4.3 (4 votes)
The ground beetles are a large, cosmopolitan family of beetles (Carabidae) with more than 40,000 species worldwide. Many species of ground beetles (adults and larvae being predators of many invertebrates, including various pests) are considered beneficial organisms to humans.
Carabus blaptoides is a species ground beetles distributed in Russia and Japan having many subspecies.
Japanese Tiger Beetle (Choco Q Animatales Series 9 by Kaiyodo)
5 (3 votes)
The Japanese Tiger beetle Cicindela chinensis japonica is a subspecies of Cicindela chinensis, a species of ground beetles native to Asia. The real beetles size can reach 2 cm, the figurine is 3,5 cm (not including the legs and antennae).
Kaiyodo released the figurine of this beautiful beetle in their 9th ChocoQ Animatales series line up in 2004.
Smokybrown Cockroach (Capsule Q Museum: Sanitary Insect Pest Exhibition by Kaiyodo)
4.3 (3 votes)
Today we are reviewing the smokybrown cockroach, Periplaneta fulginosa, by Kaiyodo for the Sanitary Insect Pest Exhibition from 2015. A year later, Kaiyodo would release a nymph of this same species in the Sticky Tack Insect set (see the third image). Like most anthropophilic species, the smokybrown is native to Asia.
Cave Dwellers TOOB (Safari Ltd.)
4.6 (5 votes)
For my next review I thought I would do an overview of the Cave Dwellers TOOB released by Safari Ltd. in 2014. When this set was first released, I was excited because five of the eight figures are arthropods. Unfortunately I have misplaced four of those five, so I recently bought the entire set, which is good because now that I am building a synoptic collection I really wanted the three non-arthropods.
Eastern Lubber Grasshopper (Smithsonian Insects by Safari Ltd.)
5 (5 votes)
Review and photos by stargatedalek; edited by bmathison1972
Editor’s note: It gives me pleasure to post the first Blog review by longstanding forum member, stargatedalek. I have a confession to make; I had a sneaky suspicion this would be her first… :-). I actually intentionally have not reviewed it myself because I thought she’d be submitting it!