Life Cycles of Animals

[bmathison1972]

A thread I always wanted to start, Life Cycles of various critters. Now, as you all probably know by now, I only have arthropod life cycles. But, I know there are others for dinosaurs, chickens, frogs, turtles, earthworms, and possibly others. Please share yours if you have them.

There are two kinds of life cycles shown here. One is where a complete life cycle was produced at once. The other is a 'Frankenstein' life cycle where I put it together using elements from different manufacturers/series. I only created Frankenstein cycles when I could put together a minimum of three life cycle elements.

Enjoy!

Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies)
The only dragonfly life cycle I am aware of (not including merely adult/nymph pairs) is this one by Tedco Toys:



Mantodea (mantids)
This life cycle is by Insect Lore (there appears to be newly-hatched nymphs and parasitoids(?) on the egg case):



Hemiptera (bugs and allies)
This is a Frankenstein life cycle for the cicada, Graphtopsaltria nigrofuscata. The basis is the molting process by Bandai, with two stages of nymphs produced by Kaiyodo:



Coleoptera (beetles)

1. Life cycle of the mealworm, Tenebrio molitor by Insect Lore:



2. various lady bug life cycles. From top to bottom: Insect Lore, Safari LTD, Tedco Toys:



3. Stag beetles. The top is a Frankenstein cycle for Dorcus hopei with a larva and pupae by Kaiyodo and an adult by Kitan Club. On the bottom is a complete cycle by Safari LTD:



4. hercules beetle, Dynastes hercules by Tedco Toys:



Diptera (flies)
Surprisingly the only one is the mosquito life cycle by Safari LTD:



Siponaptera (fleas)
Life cycle of Ctenocephalides sp. by Merial (probably as promotional material for veterinary products). I have kept them in their packaging to prevent the pieces from getting lost.



Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths)
Not surprisingly, quite a few of these.

1. luna moth Actias luna by Safari LTD:



2. silkworm moths, Bombyx mori. The top is a Frankenstein cycle with a larva and adult by Kaiyodo and a larva and pupa by Shineg. The bottom is by Insect Lore. [edited 10/14/2017]





3. painted lady, Vanessa cardui by Insect Lore:



4. monarch, Danaus plexippus by Safari LTD:



5. paper kite, Idea leuconoe. This is a Frankenstein cycle with adult and pupa by Yujn and a recent larva by Kaiyodo (thank you, Kaiyodo!!!!)



6. A couple generic butterflies. The top one is by Tedco Toys and is bizarre: the larva looks like a swallowtail but the adult looks like a monarch or similar nymphalid. The bottom one is a swallowtail by AAA. I believe they also did a Morpho life cycle I will have to hunt down (esp. if done accurately).



Hymenoptera (bees, ants, wasps).

1. ants. Top is by Safari LTD; bottom by Insect Lore:



2. honey bee, Apis mellifera. From top to bottom: Insect Lore, Safari LTD, Tedco Toys:

[stargatedalek]

Very nice! I'll have to track down that dragonfly set.

I have quite a few reptiles growth cycles to post next time I get out the camera.

[bmathison1972]

Very nice! I'll have to track down that dragonfly set.

I have quite a few reptiles growth cycles to post next time I get out the camera.

Great stars! I look forward to your contributions!

[stargatedalek]

Since (sans amphibians) vertebrate stages are often less distinguishable some of these only have two stages. Don't worry, I (mostly) resisted the urge to include any stages that were out of scale in case some were simply smaller adults.

Short notice so please excuse the variable lighting and wood chips, my nicer portable tables are occupied with paints at the moment.

Testudines:

Green sea turtle, both by Safari Incredible Creatures. I probably could have included the half-hatched good luck mini too.


Galapagos Giant tortoise, series in back by Safari Incredible Creatures, in front by Schleich (some uncertainty of whether or not the "adult Galapagos tortoise" is actually them distributing [stealing? no mention of Safari is given on the figures underside] the Safari Aldabra tortoise).


Chinese big-headed turtle, AAA, adult and foreground juvenile repainted.



Gekkota:

Tokay gecko, juveniles on right by AAA (partially repainted), adult by Safari ltd.


Crocodylia:

Alligator sp, Schleich.


Nile crocodile, Papo.


Fish:

Longnose gar, by Replica Toy Fish.


"Toxicofera":

King cobra (conflicting ID's appreciated), Safari Incredible Creatures.


Green iguana, hatchling and adult on far ends by Safari ltd (both partially repainted), sub-adults by AAA (these are bootlegs by Toy Major). Additional hatchling by AAA missed out on the group shot.



Chinese water dragon, both by AAA, both repainted.


Varanus sp., all originally by AAA (the far left and right are bootlegs both by Toy Major). Sub adult is the reason my regular tables are occupied. Youngest is missing from the set.


Aves:
Canada goose, adults by Stormfront, young by AAA (repainted).



And an added bonus:
Giant squid or similarly built relative(?), Kaiyodo (was there ever a species ID on this one?), Wild Safari, and Monterey Bay Aquarium by Safari. I completely cheated with this one I admit.




And a brief shout-out to incomplete life cycles (which were at one time part of sets or sold alongside other life stages), just in case no one here has the full sets. (Not pictured, Safari IC Veiled Chameleon juvenile).

Moray and unidentified hatching snake by AAA, unidentified tadpole by Toy Major.


AAA "frog" and "bullfrog" sets, the various tadpoles are all long lost sadly.

[brontodocus]

Great idea for a thread! I have that AAA swallowtail lifecycle, too. Stargatedalek, I think the red Cynops pyrrhogaster is a rare colour morph rather than representing an ontogenetic stage.

[Beetle guy]

Great!!

[stargatedalek]

Stargatedalek, I think the red Cynops pyrrhogaster is a rare colour morph rather than representing an ontogenetic stage.

It seems you're correct! I'm so used to our native Eastern newts that I went and assumed the red phase was the eft. I'll remove it.

[brontodocus]

Stargatedalek, I think the red Cynops pyrrhogaster is a rare colour morph rather than representing an ontogenetic stage.

It seems you're correct! I'm so used to our native Eastern newts that I went and assumed the red phase was the eft. I'll remove it.

It was new to me, too. When I bought the set I was browsing for those red Cynops pyrrhogaster and found the information on a salamander forum. They are apparently so rare that none of the non-japanese breeders there knew what they were at first. By the way, while I don't have the Good Luck Minis hatching turtle I think it might even be more or less in scale with the IC adult Green Turtle given the usual size of those minis. Maybe I should get me more of them...

[stargatedalek]

By the way, while I don't have the Good Luck Minis hatching turtle I think it might even be more or less in scale with the IC adult Green Turtle given the usual size of those minis. Maybe I should get me more of them...

Ask and you shall receive:
Adult by Safari Incredible Creatures, smallest by Safari Good Luck minis, and I'd forgotten this Epoch turtle who's colours suggest a juvenile.


All of them seemingly could be in scale.
The minis are really nice, shame the soft plastic resists paint so well because the plain colours do them a disservice when they have such nice sculpted detail.

[Jetoar]

Safari sea turttle is really beautiful  .

[Beetle guy]

Nice topic, and pic's thanks!!

[bmathison1972]

I have re-uploaded these images to Postimage

[NightLioness]

So many interesting life cycles!

[bmathison1972]

My newest life cycle, that of the earthworm by Safari LTD:

[AnimalToyForum]

Worms hatch from tiny lemons? 

Seriously though, I really like Safari Ltd's Life Cycles of Animals sets.

[bmathison1972]

Worms hatch from tiny lemons? 

Seriously though, I really like Safari Ltd's Life Cycles of Animals sets.

Where do you think sour gummy worms come from?

Yes, I like the life cycles, too. I wish they'd make more of them, it's a good way to sneak more arthropods into their repertoire

[AnimalToyForum]

Worms hatch from tiny lemons? 

Seriously though, I really like Safari Ltd's Life Cycles of Animals sets.

Where do you think sour gummy worms come from?

Yes, I like the life cycles, too. I wish they'd make more of them, it's a good way to sneak more arthropods into their repertoire

Woud there be any particular creature life cycles you'd like to see made?

[bmathison1972]

Worms hatch from tiny lemons? 

Seriously though, I really like Safari Ltd's Life Cycles of Animals sets.

Where do you think sour gummy worms come from?

Yes, I like the life cycles, too. I wish they'd make more of them, it's a good way to sneak more arthropods into their repertoire

Woud there be any particular creature life cycles you'd like to see made?

Insects not already made could include a dragonfly, non-mosquito fly (e.g., house fly), grasshopper, true bug of sorts, firefly

[bmathison1972]

Review of the Life Cycle of a Hornet set by Epoch, new for 2019. This is the life cycle of the giant Asian hornet, Vespa mandarinia Smith, 1852, a common and widespread species in the Orient. This is a new take on a commonly-made species.

The set consists of 5 components: queen hornet, worker hornet, pupa, larva, and two pairs of brood chambers (one pair each with the larva and pupa). I have seen various versions of this set sold with extra cells, larvae, and pupae, but the one I ended up getting had one of each developmental stage.

The queen and worker are 5.0 and 3.8 cm, respectively, making the adults 1:1 scale. They come assembled but looks as if they are made up of assembled pieces. The larva, pupa, and paired chambers are all single pieces of plastic.

First, the larva:



Next, the pupa:



Worker hornet:



Queen hornet:



The brood chambers:



The life cycle:



The complete set:



I made the colony bigger by adding the hornet larva made by Shineg:



And lastly we have a super colony with additional adults by Kaiyodo (2x), Rement, Yujin, and Break Co. LTD:

[bmathison1972]

The newest life cycle, the giant Asian hornet, by Epoch: