Blaine's Bug of the Day

[bmathison1972]

Another new species for me, the 'Tully Monster', Tullymonstrum gregarium Richardson, 1966 by Paleo-Creatures ( @Jetoar ). This enigmatic prehistoric invertebrate is known only from the Mason Creek formation in Illinois. Figures of this species have only been made by specialty companies and personal artists, but my guess is it will not be long before Safari or CollectA makes one .

[Beetle guy]

Wow, That looks bizar! Great figurine!

[bmathison1972]

A species for me, the black hornet Vespula flaviceps (Smith, 1870). This was an 'accessory' figure (for lack of a better term) for the hornets collection by Break Co. LTD.

[Beetle guy]

Great! Did You get the golden one as well?

[bmathison1972]

Great! Did You get the golden one as well?

Yes but still unsure of its identity. Honestly it might be an artificial coloration as a gimmick piece?

[bmathison1972]

The red-banded snapping shrimp, Alpheus randalli Banner et Banner, 1980. Red-banded snapping shrimp have a symbiotic relationship with various gobies. The two species share a burrow together. The shrimp maintains the burrow and in turn gets to feed on food scraps from the fish. The shrimp is nearly blind and is very sensitive to movements of the fish, often keeping an antennae in constant contact with the fish. If the fish retreated into the burrow to avoid danger, this shrimp follows!

Left: with the orange-striped shrimp goby, Stogonobiops yasha Yoshino et Shimada, 2010, by For Corporation.
Right: with the yellownose prawn goby, Stonogobiops xanthorhinica Randall, 1982, by Colorata

[Beetle guy]

Glad to see this post revived ;-)!

[bmathison1972]

Glad to see this post revived ;-)!

Haven't gotten any new arthropods lately. Most 2019 additions are not out yet :-).

Thank you for the interest and support!

[bmathison1972]

Revisiting the emperor scorpion, Pandinus imperator (Koch, 1842), with the 2019 model by Kaiyodo - Revogeo!



I have many figures of this species (and several are packed away for the moment), but here it is with similarly-sized and familiar Safari LTD Smithsonian Insects figure:

[bmathison1972]

Revisiting the Mexican red-kneed tarantula, Brachypelma smithi (P-Cambridge, 1897) by Mojo Fun, new for 2019.



This also means five of the six major western (non-Japanese) manufacturers have made Brachypelma smithi. This species has been made by Safari LTD (at least 4 times), Bullyland (at least twice), CollectA, Schleich, and now Mojo Fun. A few examples, with at least one from each company:

1. Safari LTD (Smithsonian Insects)
2. Safari LTD (Hidden Kingdom Insects)
3. CollectA
4. Mojo Fun
5. Schleich
6. Bullyland

[bmathison1972]

A new species for me, the Tasmanian giant freshwater crayfish, Astacopsis gouldi Clark, 1936, by Yowie USA, Wild Water Series, new for 2019!!! This is the first arthropod by Yowie USA. Not surprising, since they have focused on endangered species, and most arthropods do not get the IUCN treatment.



The species marks the fifth species of crayfish (Decapoda: Astacidae, Parastacidae, Cambaridae) in toy figure form, at least that I am aware of (there is a potential sixth species, if you have decided to put a species name on the Safari LTD Cave Dwellers TOOB figure).

Representative crayfish figures:
1. red swamp crayfish, Procambarus clarkii (both red and green forms here by Yujin)*
2. Japanese crayfish, Cambaroides japonicus (both brown and blue forms here by Kaiyodo)*
3. Mexican dwarf crayfish, Cambarellus patzcuarensis (Banjihan ACE)
4. yabby, Cherax destructor (Cadbury - Yowies)
5. Tasmanian giant freshwater crayfish, Astacopsis gouldi (Yowie USA)

*there are multiple color forms of these species by different companies.

[pelycosaurus]

those are some nice bugs blain cheers!

[bmathison1972]

Revisiting the orchid mantid, Hymenopus coronatus (Olivier, 1792), by My Favorite Animals. This figure represents an adult female, and to my knowledge the first figure representing an adult (others represent subadult nymphs).



With subadults from Kabaya and Furuta:

[bmathison1972]

Revisting the pillbug, Cubaris murina Brandt, 1833, the second species of isopod in Bandai's Dango Mushi series, new for 2019. Like the previous incarnations of Armadillidium vulgare, this figure comes rolled up in a ball that can be unrolled and have the legs manipulated into a natural position.

Rolled up:



Unrolled:



With its smaller Kaiyodo Capsule Q counterpart:



And the growing collection of terrestrial isopods:

1. Cubaris murina by Bandai and Kaiyodo
2. Armadillidium vulgare by Kaiyodo (2x) and Bandai

[bmathison1972]

Revisiting the Alaskan king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus (Tilesius, 1815), with the new 2019 figure by CollectA's Sealife Collection.



Here is it with my other P. camtschaticus figures. It is the largest among them! Others are by Yujin, Kaiyodo (2), Epoch, and Play Visions. Notice how the Play Visions figure has an incorrect leg count. Like hermit crabs, king crabs have the last pair of legs hidden inside the branchial chamber and not visible from above.

[Isidro]

Nice group! The Kaiyodo Aquatales figurine or the other small figurine that is in the stone, are more or less close to the 1:20 scale or are they bigger?

[bmathison1972]

Nice group! The Kaiyodo Aquatales figurine or the other small figurine that is in the stone, are more or less close to the 1:20 scale or are they bigger?

@Isidro I will measure for you in a bit. I had to pack up the crabs because the display case they were on got some water damage due to a leaky air-conditioning unit (the figures are all fine). But until it is OK to restock my shelves, they are packed away.

[bmathison1972]

@Isidro actually these two were not put into boxes so I was able to get to them easily. Both the Aquatales figure (on the blue bottlecap) and the smaller one on the rock are both by Kaiyodo. The second one is from the Hokkaido Figure Winter Version collection, a 'non-animal' set featuring various aspects of Japanese culture. This latter set is very rare.
Anyway, both figures have the same size carapace (one seems heavily influenced by the other). The carapaces are 1.4 cm, making them 1:20 on average, yes!!!

[Isidro]

Wow! Big thanks, Blaine! I'll try to get one of them. I suppose that the Aquatales figurine is not detachable from the "stone" base, so I will try to get the Hokkaido one. If I'm successful, this will be the first arthropod in my figurine collection, a group that is extremely complicated to have in the same scale than big mammals!

[bmathison1972]

Wow! Big thanks, Blaine! I'll try to get one of them. I suppose that the Aquatales figurine is not detachable from the "stone" base, so I will try to get the Hokkaido one. If I'm successful, this will be the first arthropod in my figurine collection, a group that is extremely complicated to have in the same scale than big mammals!

@Isidro yes the Aquatales figure is detachable. Three pieces: crab, rock base, bottlecap. The crab attached to the rock with a small acrylic rod, so the crab can standalone just fine without any distractors!

We must do what we can to introduce arthropods to your collection