Insect Collection (K&M International - Wild Republic Polybags)

[bmathison1972]

Review of the complete set of Insect Collection, by K&M International, Wild Republic Polybags. I have actually been meaning to do a review of this set for a while but it took me a while to finally get the butterfly (the others were all bought individually in a toy store in Tucson, AZ back in 2000...).

There are 10 figures, all solid-piece PVC. They are large, comparable to Safari LTD Incredible Creatures or Hidden Kingdom Insects figures. Some are specific, some are generic, and some are 'Frankenstein' (sculpted like one species, painted like another).

For what it's worth, you can buy sets of 4 unpainted figures (stink bug, butterfly, rhino beetle, and I forget the fourth) if you wanted to paint yours to look like a specific species.

K&M has a good history of making interesting taxa and a variety of species--too bad that does not seem to be the case anymore.

One to the critters, in no particular order. Names and identifications are mine, or credited to Andre (brontodocus) via private conversations:

1. Ground beetle, Carabidae: Carabini: Carabus (or related).
This is one of the 'Frankenstein' figures; the morphology of the sculpt clearly looks like a carabine beetle, but the color look like an emerald weevil in the genus Eupholus. In fact, I considered mine an emerald weevil for years before Andre pointed me in the right direction!

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2. Mantis, gen. sp. (presumably a praying mantis, Mantis religiosa).
This is one of the nice figures in the set, although it is essentially another bin-style green mantid. Under 'Bug of the Day' I currently have it with the praying mantis.

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3. Grasshopper, gen. sp.
To me, this is another generic green grasshopper (GGG), although Andre suggested Tropidacris collaris. Personally I do not think there were any species-level attempts when this was made.

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4. Stink bug: Hemiptera: Pentatomidae, gen. sp.
This is my favorite in the set! Not only because terrestrial hemipterans other than cicadas are RARELY made but also because it's a darn cool figure. I am not a specialist on this group enough to know if this was painted to look like something specific.

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5. Japanese rhinoceros beetle, Allomyrina dichotoma.
This is an easy one, easily recognizable (and not just because it is one of 37 representative of this species I have in my collection!).

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6. Monarch, Danaus plexippus.
Based on the color, there is no real other choice for this, although Andre has pointed out the wing shape is not consistent with the danaines. I have seen this figure marketed online as a viceroy, but that species should have a black band across the hind wings that this figure clearly does not have.

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7. Blow fly, Diptera: Calliphoridae, gen. sp.
I like this one a lot too. Looks to be modeled after a Lucilia species. The wing venation, while not 100% accurate, is at least along the lines of what a calliphorid's would look like!

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8. Carpenter ant, Camponotus species.
Fairly generic at the genus level, but appears to be a carpenter ant. Other species in the genus include C. japonicus by Epoch and C. texanus by Club Earth.

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9. Beetle, gen. sp.
This is the oddest of the group. For years I bounced this around families from Melyridae to Lampyridae! It was not until Andre repainted his (http://animaltoyforum.com/index.php?topic=1301.msg10591#msg10591) that it became clear to me that morphologically it looks like a carrion beetle (Silphidae), although the paint job is nothing like a silphid (at least none I am familiar with). I have this among Silphidae in Bug of the Day.

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10. Stag beetle, Prosopocoilus astacoides.
While this is generic, I think there is enough morphological evidence to place it in the genus Prosopocoilus. For a long time, I considered it  P. inclinatus, but I like Andre's suggestion of astacoides better, especially with regards to head armature. I have edited Bug of the Day to accommadate this change (and hey, it gives me a new species for my collection!)

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[brontodocus]

Great overview of the K&M insects, Blaine! I had forgotten that you got the butterfly later than the others. Despite some not matching paint jobs this is a great set - colour aside the No. 1 and 9 are pretty accurate as far as their sculpt goes.

9. Beetle, gen. sp.
This is the oddest of the group. For years I bounced this around families from Melyridae to Lampyridae! It was not until Andre repainted his (http://animaltoyforum.com/index.php?topic=1301.msg10591#msg10591) that it became clear to me that morphologically it looks like a carrion beetle (Silphidae), although the paint job is nothing like a silphid (at least none I am familiar with). I have this among Silphidae in Bug of the Day.

Ah, glad you found the thread. I updated the image urls there, too, so the photos are back.