I thought I was done with reviews for spooky season this year but with only a few days left until Halloween I was determined to make sure this cutie was featured on the blog before season’s end. This is the death’s-head hawkmoth (genus Acherontia) by Squishable. Death’s-head hawkmoths seem to be all the rage this year.
Classification: Butterflies & Moths
Tobacco Hornworm (Accoutrements)
4 (3 votes)
Mosura ya MosuraMosura ya MosuraMosura ya Mosura
Hard to believe my first two Halloween-inspired posts this year would be sphingid moths, not a group of animals typically associated with being scary, spooky, or dangerous. But after having very recently acquired this big bad beast, I had to channel my inner Shobijin and summon it for the Blog!
Death’s-head Hawkmoth (Garden Animals by Papo)
5 (5 votes)
The genus Acherontia, whose members are commonly referred to as death’s-head hawkmoths, contains three species broadly distributed in Eurasia and Africa. The greater death’s-head hawkmoth (A. lachesis), which is the largest of the three, occurs in Central and East Asia to Japan and the Philippines; it has also recently become established in Hawaii.
Cute Silkworm (Tarlin)
3.5 (4 votes)
Bombyx mori, the domestic silkworm moth, is a wholly domesticated species of insect. The origin of B. mori is unknown, but is believed to be descended from an extinct moth that shares a common ancestor with the wild silk moth, B. mandarina. Domestication is thought to have originated in China over 5,000 years ago.
Small Tortoiseshell (Little Wonders by CollectA)
4.9 (7 votes)
Having recently showcased CollectA’s small tortoiseshell butterfly (Aglais urticae) in my daily ‘Museum’ posts on the ATF, I thought it would be a good opportunity to review it for the Blog! I was contemplating just migrating over my forum walk-around, but I am not happy with those images, so I took new ones for a fresh review.
Life Cycle of a Monarch Butterfly (Safariology by Safari Ltd.)
3.8 (10 votes)
The monarch, Danaus plexippus, is probably the most commonly made species of butterfly. It’s been made by several major company, including CollectA, Safari Ltd (at least five times), Papo, and K&M International (at least twice), and is a common edition to insect and butterfly tubes, blister packs, and box sets ( couple examples on the Blog, here and here).
Lobster Moth, caterpillar (Diversity of Life on Earth – Caterpillars Vol. 2 by Bandai)
3.5 (10 votes)
For the most part, adult moths in the family Notodontidae (commonly referred to as the ‘prominents’) are relatively drab moths, at least in the Northern Hemisphere. There are exceptions, of course, but in general they are fairly non-descript (to the casual observer) brown and grey moths typical of those seen at a porch light on a warm, humid summer’s eve.
Caterpillars to Go (Club Earth)
3.2 (6 votes)
Nearly two years ago to the day, I reviewed Club Earth’s Butterflies to Go collection after acquiring the last figures for that Holy Grail collection. Now today I get to do the same thing for the Caterpillars to Go collection, again having received the last figure in this Holy Grail Collection.
Clouded Yellow (Wild Animals by Papo)
5 (1 votes)
I started collecting insects when I was in Junior High School, so roughly 1984 or so. Like most beginners, I collected conspicuous and familiar species in my neighborhood, including of course butterflies and moths. Among the Lepidoptera my favorites were members of the family Pieridae, commonly referred to as whites, yellows, sulfurs, and orange-tips due to their delicate off-whites and pastel oranges and yellows.
Old World Swallowtail, adult and caterpillar (Wild Animals by Papo)
5 (3 votes)
While commonly referred to as the ‘Old World swallowtail’, Papilio machaon has a very wide distribution, widest of any of the Papilionidae, covering most of the Palearctic and into western North America. Part of the species’ success is its tolerance for a variety of habitats and host plants. The butterfly can be found in forests, grasslands, hilltops, Alpine meadows, tundra, wetlands, disturbed areas, parks, and gardens.
Butterflies of the World Collectors Case (Safari Ltd.)
3.5 (2 votes)
This is a review of the complete Butterflies of the World set as part of Safari LTD’s Collectors Case series. The undersides of the figures are not detailed, so an overall review of the set seemed more valuable then doing reviews for individual figures. This is one of three butterfly sets by Safari.
Butterflies TOOB (Safari Ltd.)
4.3 (3 votes)
Butterflies are unquestionably the most popular and universally loved insects. You would be hard pressed to find someone that fears or loathes butterflies in the same way a lot of folk’s fear and loathe moths, for example. Even if butterflies are basically glorified, diurnal moths themselves. Butterflies and moths both belong to the order Lepidoptera and although moths first appear in the early Jurassic, 200 million years ago, butterflies don’t show up until the Paleocene, 56 million years ago, having evolved directly from moths.
Butterflies (Junior Groovies by Innovative Kids)
4.5 (2 votes)
Today I will be reviewing a collection of butterflies by Innovative Kids. It is from their Junior Groovies collection, which is a lot like the familiar Groovy Tube Books collection, but for a younger audience (ages 3-6, or, in this case, 48-year-olds who collect toy insects). First of all, I should thank STS forum member Saarlooswolfhound for alerting me to this on Amazon.
Monarch (Wild Animals by Papo)
4 (1 votes)
Today I will be continuing the reviews of Papo’s 2020 arthropods with the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus. This is one of 5 insects (6 arthropods total) produced by Papo in 2020. Interestingly, it is the only arthropod in their entire collection to-date that is not naturally European, given that Papo is a French company (more on that later).
Butterflies to Go (Club Earth)
5 (1 votes)
I recently completed a Holy Grail collection, so I thought to share it on the Blog. I am referring to the Butterflies to Go collection by Club Earth. I am not sure when it was released, but it was probably alongside the classic Play Visions collections in the late 1990s. The set consists of 12 species of butterflies.