After recently reviewing Safari Ltd.’s Insects TOOB and having previously reviewed CollectA’s Mini Insects and Spiders tube, I decided to follow them up with an overview of Mojö Fun’s 2024 Insects & Spiders Tube. I didn’t have high hopes for this set. Promo pics gave the impression of typical bin/dollar store-style cheap insects.
Classification: Insects
Insects TOOB (Safari Ltd.)
3.8 (8 votes)
I have recently reacquired the Safari Ltd. Insects TOOB and thought I would showcase it for the Blog. There have been at least three (maybe more) iterations of this TOOB over the years, with I believe the first version coming out in 2004. At some point (I don’t know what year) Safari also released a glow-in-the-dark version of the TOOB.
Mini Insects Vol. 1 (Diversity of Life on Earth by Bandai)
3.7 (3 votes)
In 2022, Bandai started a series of miniatures in their Diversity of Life of Earth line. The first set is the one we will be looking at today, Mini Insects Volume 1. It would be followed by Volumes 2 (which has already been reviewed by Fembrogon) and 3 (which I plan to tackle later), both released in 2023.
Monarch Butterfly, caterpillar (Hidden Kingdom Smithsonian Insects by Safari Ltd.)
4.2 (5 votes)
In following the trends of Safari Ltd.’s Tennessee Aquarium Salamander, Monterey Bay Aquarium, and Marsh Education Fish collections, I am going to attempt to finish, or assist in finishing, Safari’s Hidden Kingdom Smithsonian Insects collection (the lubber grasshopper, black widow, and flea have already been reviewed). If I remember correctly, the figures were originally produced by Safari in the late 1990s alongside a traveling museum exhibit sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution that featured large animatronic insects.
Death’s-head Hawkmoth (Squishable)
3.8 (5 votes)
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.
Tobacco Hornworm (Accoutrements)
3.3 (4 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)
4.3 (6 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.
King of Wasps (Diversity of Life on Earth: Advanced Wasps Vol. 2 by Bandai)
4.3 (8 votes)
Megalara garuda, commonly called the King of Wasps or Garuda wasp, was only formally described in 2012. It was named after the Hindu deity Garuda, the bird-like mount of the Hindu god Vishnu. This crabronid wasp is endemic to the Mekongga Mountains of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
Crawlers (Pocket Explorers by Phidal Publishing Inc.)
3 (4 votes)
Pocket Explorers is a line of books by put out by Phidal Publishing. They designed for children and are educationally driven. Looking at their website, the themes are Reptiles, Wild Cats, Dinosaurs, Sharks, Polar Animals, Birds of Prey, Bears, and Crawlers, the last of which we will be looking at today.
Dung Beetle (Jasman)
3.3 (8 votes)
Copris acephalus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae), an enigmatic new species of dung beetle from the Bolivian Altiplano
keywords: Copris, Scarabaeidae, new species
Abstract. Copris acephalus Mathison, new species is described from the Bolivian Altiplano. The new species possesses a series of bizarre autapomorphies not previously seen in the genus Copris, the family Scarabaeidae, or even the order Coleoptera.
Cute Silkworm (Tarlin)
3.8 (6 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.
Mini Insects Vol. 2 (Diversity of Life on Earth by Bandai)
5 (8 votes)
Praying mantises are cool – I think that’s an opinion I can safely say is shared between many animal enthusiasts. Out of all the hundreds of thousands of insects known to science, probably no group is equal parts so peculiar and charismatic as Order Mantodea, the mantises. It’s only natural, then, that a number of toy and collectible animal brands have tackled mantises and continue to do so.