I am continuing what seems to have become a tradition of mine, which is to review the next Kaiyodo Revogeo arthropod. Today we are looking at a pair of Japanese carpenter ants (Camponotus japonicus) which were released just last month. I discussed the geographic distribution and biology of this species here the last time I reviewed the species, so for this review I will focus exclusively on the figures themselves.
The two ants appear to be the exact same sculpt. The ants have a body length of approximately 11.0 cm, for a scale of 18.3:1-7.3:1 for a worker ant, depending on their function in the colony. No assembly is required, but there are 16 points of articulation: base of head; base of abdomen; base of each mandible; the juncture between each coxa and femur (the trochanter functions as a ball joint between the two); and the juncture between the femur and tibia. Despite the articulations in the legs, the body of the figure is a little too heavy and it is difficult to prop the animal up on just its legs. The figures did come with a single base (see below) with options for displaying one of the ants just off the base, for a more realistic positioning of the legs. The ants lack ocelli, which they should if they represent workers (something other manufacturers get wrong at times) and the compound eyes are finely faceted! The base color is a dark brown-black, but the tarsi, antennae, and mandibles are a semi-translucent dark amber-brown (this was sometimes difficult to capture in the pics). The silvery lines of setae are actually sculpted and not just painted! As with other Revogeo figures, I’ll let a series of pics show the detail:
The set also comes with a cluster of three semi-translucent white eggs, designed to be carried in the mandibles of one of the workers. In early promo pics, I thought there was also supposed to be a larva, but I guess it didn’t make the final product.
Overall, these are very nice representative of Japanese carpenter ants. Their size, cost, availability in Japan, and articulations might not make them desirable for most collectors and they probably suit specialists the best. Smaller versions of this species are available by Epoch and Takara Tomy A.R.T.S. If the size and articulations aren’t an issue, but you didn’t want two ants, the Bandai Diversity of Life on Earth figure (see below) is a viable option.
And the ants scale fairly well with the worker C. japonicus from Bandai’s Diversity of Life on Earth Collection (lower left):
The ant larvae was a bonus for pre-orders at Kaiyodo stores.
Thanks. That’s good to know. I would have liked a larva, but at least now I don’t have to wonder if it was in the packaging and I accidentally threw it away LOL (but I was careful and double-checked everything, as I was expecting a larva).