Mathison Museum of Natural History

[bmathison1972]

Love bobcats, which means this figure is on my short list of figures to get. Bobcats are the only cat species I've seen in the wild too. Back in the late 90's I lived near a beaver pond and used to sit at the edge of it with my VHS camcorder, hoping to film wildlife. The bobcat was there, and then it was gone. Never got the chance to film it.

Thanks Gwangi. You know, often when I buy a figure, I am quick to put it on a shelf without spending much time appreciating it. When I review a model for this thread, it gives me the opportunity to really study it in detail. Until I prepared this bobcat post, I hadn't realized what a great figure it really is!

[bmathison1972]

Species: Manis crassicaudata Geoffroy, 1803
Common name(s): Indian pangolin

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Mojö Fun
Series: Wildlife
Year of Production: 2014
Size/Scale: Body length 12.0 cm for a scale of 1:7-1:10
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: The only other figure of this species I am aware of is a smaller version by Cadbury for the UK Yowies collection.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Indian subcontinent (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh)
Habitat: Subtropical thorn scrub, secondary forests, grasslands, deserts, agricultural fields, plantations
Diet: Termites and ants
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Endangered
Miscellaneous Notes: Like other pangolins, Manis crassicaudata is known for its large protective scales made of keratin. When a would-be predator is near, the pangolin will curl into a ball, with its limbs and the vulnerable parts of its face protected by the scales. They can also excrete a foul-smelling odor from their anal glands. The main natural predators of M. crassicaudata are tigers and Asiatic lions.

[Gwangi]

I didn't know about this one, definitely have to get it.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Trachidermus fasciatus Hechel, 1837
Common name(s): roughskin sculpin

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Yujin
Series: Freshwater Fish Pictorial Book 2
Year of Production: unknown
Size/Scale: Body length 6.5 cm for a scale of 1:1.8-1:3
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Minimal assembly is required (the head needs to be attached). This is one of the few species in the Freshwater Fish Pictorial Book collections that doesn't come with a base.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: East Asia (China, Korean Peninsula, Japan)
Habitat: Mouths of rivers and estuaries that feed coastal ocean waters; juveniles migrate upstream in freshwater rivers
Diet: Juveniles feed on zooplankton; adults are predators on benthic fish and invertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Trachidermus fasciatus it catadromous, meaning the fish migrate from one body of water to another. Adults live in the brackish areas of the mouths of rivers and in estuaries that feed the ocean. Eggs are typically laid in empty bivalve shells, but the fish will also use manmade objects, such as concrete blocks and empty glass bottles. After hatching, juvenile fish migrate upstream in the freshwater rivers, returning to the mouths of the rivers to spawn.

[bmathison1972]

Species: †Alphadon marshi Simpson, 1927

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Vivid Toy Group
Series: Walking with Dinosaurs
Year of Production: 2012
Size/Scale: Body length approximately 8.0 cm for a scale of 1:3.75 (see below).
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Scale difficult to calculate as fossils of Alphadon are known only from mandibles and teeth, but based on a presumed body length of 30 cm, scale comes to 1:3.75

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Late Cretaceous (Campanian to Maastrichtian) of present-day Canada and northern USA
Habitat: Forests
Diet: Invertebrates, fruit; possibly small vertebrates or carrion
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: The phylogenetic position of the Alphadontidae is not fully resolved, but it is generally believed they are metatherians that represent a sister-group to, or nestled within, Marsupialia.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Squalogadus modificatus Gilbert & Hubbs, 1916
Common name(s): tadpole whiptail; roundhead tadpole grenadier

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Choco Q Animatales Series 9
Year of Production: 2004
Size/Scale: Body length 6.0 cm for a scale of 1:6
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Being one of the original Choco Q figures, some assembly is required. The fish is removable from its base.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Circumglobally in tropical and subtropical waters
Habitat: Bathypelagic; at depths of 600-1,740 meters
Diet: Pelagic invertebrates, small fish
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Unlike some deep-sea rattails, S. modificatus lacks light organs and has a regressed swim bladder.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Morpho peleides Kollar, 1850
Common name(s): common morpho; blue morpho; emperor

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Hidden Kingdom Insects
Year of Production: 2004 (see below)
Size/Scale: Wingspan 11.5 cm for a scale of 1:1.1-1:1.7 (slightly under 1:1 for a small specimen)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the second time we've seen M. peleides in the Museum. For years, I had this figure databased as M. menelaus (and earlier posts of mine may reflect this) but in studying it in detail for this post, I feel the markings on the underside are better for M. peleides. This same sculpt was used for an orange-barred sulfur (Phoebis philea); both figures are stamped 2004 but I cannot remember if they were released in the same year or the sulfur was released in a following year. Like many figures of nymphalid butterflies, today's morpho is sculpted with an incorrect number of functional legs (6, should be 4).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Mexico to northern South America
Habitat: Rainforests, usually along trails, paths, forest edges, and other open areas
Diet: Larvae feed on plants in the families Fabaceae (legumes) and Bignoniaceae (bignonias); adults drink juices from overripe fruit and tree sap.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Morpho peleides has undergone extensive diversification in Central and South America, and about 13 valid subspecies are recognized [I was hoping to list these subspecies and their geographic distributions, but I didn't have time to research the latter. Next time...].



Tomorrow will be post 700, so thee will be a stats update

[bmathison1972]

Species: Acherontia atropos (Linnaeus, 1758)
Common name(s): death's-head hawk moth; African death's-head hawkmoth

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Funrise Toys
Series: World of Nature Insect Collection
Year of Production: 1989
Size/Scale: Figure length 5.0 cm. If spread like a specimen, wingspan would come to approximately 8.2 cm for a scale of 1:1-1:1.5 (see below)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Despite the simple paint application, a 'skull' is sculpted into the thorax. Forum member Jetoar also made this species for Paleo-Creatures in the Little Treasures of Europe line. Japanese companies have made adults and larvae of an Asian species, A. lachesis (one of which has already been showcased in the Museum). Different references had different ranges for the wingspan of this species. The above scale is calculated based on a range of 8-13 centimeters. Using that range, this figure would scale 1:1 for a small specimen.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Much of Africa including Madagascar (absent in large deserts), Mediterranean Europe, and the Middle East; vagrants occur throughout much of Europe
Habitat: Open woodlands, meadows, fields, agricultural fields, gardens
Diet: Larvae feed primarily on plants in the genera Solanum and Physalis, but also a variety of other plants in the families Solanaceae, Verbenaceae, Oleaceae, Pedaliaceae, and Cannabaceae; adults feed on honey
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Acherontia atropos has interesting feeding habits as larvae. The favorite foods of the larvae are cultivated potato (Solanum tuberosum) and groundcherries in the genus Physalis. What is surprising, is that these two plants are native to the Americas, and not within the natural distribution of the moth. It is an example of how an insect can readily adapt to an introduced plant as its primary food source.

[/i][/i]

[bmathison1972]

With today's post being the 700th, I it is time for a fun stats update.

Raw Numbers:

Number of time we've seen major groups in the Museum. These are raw numbers based on the posts. In July 2022, I purged about 200 insect figures from my collection, including 52 that had already been showcased in the Museum. Over time, it's possible that other figures might get removed or replaced.

Arthropods: 392
Mammals: 89
Fish: 67
Birds: 48
Non-Arthropod Invertebrates: 38
Reptiles: 30
Amphibians: 17
Dinosaurs: 15
Protozoans/Plankton: 4

*Taxonomic Notes. Birds include all theropods within Euavialae, extinct or extant. The Dinosaur category is for 'traditional' prehistoric dinosaur clades (except anything in Euavialae); pterosaurs; mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs and other prehistoric aquatic reptiles; prehistoric crocodylomorphs; prehistoric non-mammal synapsids; and prehistoric reptiles with no close modern relatives. Amphibians include some prehistoric stem tetrapods.

Now, within Arthropods. Like with the major groups above, this is based on all posts, including those that have been removed and/or replaced in my collection.

Insects: 286
Crustaceans: 51
Arachnids: 39
Misc. Arthropods: 16


Here are posts that remove two or more figures from the database (e.g., male and female figures released together). For the database, with the exception of life cycle sets, one line represents one figure. So, in these cases it is when the random number generator lands on one of the two (or more), but both (or more) are reviewed and removed. The following is how many times we have seen posts that remove two or more from the database:
Two figures: 62
Three figures: 5
Four figures: 2
Five figures: 1


Now some interesting tidbits of information:

Species that have been seen more than once:
Allomyrina dichotoma (11), Allotopus rosenbergi (4), Anomalocaris canadensis (2), Apis mellifera (3), Armadillidium vulgare (2), Atrax robustus (2), Bathynomus giganteus (4), Beckius beccarii (2), Brachypelma smithi (3), Cambaroides japonicus (2), Chalcosoma chiron (3), Chalcosoma moellenkampi (3), Cheirotonus jambar (3), Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens (2), Coccinella septempunctata (4), Cybister chinensis (3), Danaus plexippus (7), Daphina pulex (2), Dorcus hopei (4), Dynastes grantii (3), Dynastes hercules (9), Dynastes neptunus (5), Graptopsaltria nigrofuscata (3), Hebomoia glaucippe (2), Heliconius charithonia (2), Idea leuconoe (3), Lamprima adolphinae (2), Latrodectus hasselti (2), Latrodectus mactans (3), Locusta migratoria (2), Lucanus cervus (3), Lucanus maculifemoratus (6), Macrocheira kaempferi (3), Mantis religiosa (2), Megasoma actaeon (2), Megasoma elaphas (3), Mesotopus tarandus (6), Morpho menelaus (3), Morpho peleides (2), Odontolabis burmeisteri (3), Ogyris genoveva (2); Onchorhynchus clarkii (2), Pandinus imperator (2), Papilio machaon (3), Papilio xuthus (3), Phalacrognathus muelleri (2), Procambarus clarkii (3), Prosopocoilus dissimilis (2), Prosopocoilus giraffa (4), Prosopocoilus inclinatus (7), Rosalia batesi (2), Sasakia charonda (2), Vespa mandarinia (2).

Genera with more than one species:
Acherontia (2), Aeshna (2), Allomyrina (2), Ameerega (2), Androctonus (2), Aphonopelma (2), Bison (2), Carabus (2), Carcharhinus (2), Chalcosoma (3), Cheirotonus (3), Coccinella] (2), Cyclommatus (2), Dorcus (4); Dynastes (3), Equus (3), Eupatorus (2), Goliathus (3), Hexarthrius (4), Lactoria (2), Lamprima (2), Latrodectus (3), Lucanus (2), Lynx (2), Macaca (2), Manis (2), Megasoma (3), Morpho (5), Myotis (2), Odontolabis (3), Oncorhynchus (3), Ornithoptera (4), Panulirus (3), Papilio (7), Parnassius (2), Polistes (2), Prosopocoilus (5), Rhaetulus (2), Rosalia (2), Scolopendra (2), Spheniscus (4), Ursus (2), Vespa (3), Zerene (2).


Companies:

Here are a list of companies (alphabetical order) and how many have come up in each (some posts can have more than one company). Companies with an asterisk are new since the last stats update:
   
4D Master  3   
AAA  4   
Access Toys  1   
Adventure Planet  1   
Agatsuma Entertainment  2   
AMT/Ertl  1   
AquaKitz  1   
Aquameridian Ltd./For Corporation  1
Arboreum Artwork  2   
Ayano Katyama  2   
Bandai/Bandai Spirits  17   
Beam  1   
Beauty of Beasts  1   
Blip Toys  2   
Break Co. Ltd.  1   
Bullyland  8   
Cadbury/Yowie Group  31   
CBIOV  1*
Club Earth/Wing Mau  26   
Coca Cola  3   
CollectA  28   
Colorata  28   
DeAgostini  17   
Discovery Channel  1   
Dreams Come True Ltd.  1   
Easter Unlimited Ltd.  1*
Eikoh  2   
Epoch/Tarlin  9   
FaunaFigures  1   
Favorite Co.  3   
F-toys  13   
Funrise Toys  3   
Hayakawa Toys  4   
Ikimon/Kitan Club  27   
Imperial Toys  1   
Innovative Kids  2   
Insect Lore  7   
Jam  2   
K&M International  18   
Kabaya  8   
Kaiyodo/Furuta  113   
Koro Koro  1   
Land & Sea Collectibles  2   
Maia & Borges  1   
Maruka  1   
Mojo Fun  5   
My Favorite Animals  1*
Natural History  4   
NECA  1   
Nihon Auto Toy  1   
Noah's Pals  1   
Paleocasts  3   
Paleo-Creatures  4   
Papo  19   
Play Visions  25   
PNSO  3   
Qualia  2   
Rainforest Café  1   
Rebor  1   
Re-Ment  1   
Royal Ontario Museum  1*
Running Press  1   
Safari Ltd.  75   
Schleich  7   
Science and Nature  5   
Sega  39   
ShanTrip  3   
Shine-G  3   
Skillcraft  2   
SO-TA/Toys Spirits  3   
Southlands Replicas  7   
Stasto 3D File  3   
Stewart Sales Services  1   
Takara Tomy A.R.T.S./Subarudo  26   
Toy Fish Factory/Replica Toy Fish  5   
Toy Major  6   
Trendmasters  1*
Trilobiti  1   
US Toy  3   
Vivid Toy Group  2   
Wild Kraatz  2   
Yell  3   
Yujin  28   
unknown  12   



Anyway, we'll look at stats again after post 800!! Until then, enjoy the posts!

[Isidro]

Very odd, looks like a specimen absolutely worn and then put into preserving liquid. The complete lack of any kind of paintjob contrast greatly with the realism in sculpt and texture.

By the way, some very favoured host plants for the caterpillars are the Bignoniaceae, that are related with aforementioned Oleaceae, Verbenaceae and Pedaliaceae (all of them being in the same order)

[bmathison1972]

Species: Chiromantes haematocheir (De Haan, 1833)
Common name(s): red-clawed crab

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Wing Mau
Series: Aquatic Museum
Year of Production: unknown
Size/Scale: Carapace width 2.3 cm for a scale of 1:1-1:1.5; within scale 1:1 for a smaller specimen
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the second time we've seen C. haematocheir in the Museum. There are six figures in the Aquatic Museum collection, each representing a different species of crab. Each comes with a flat habitat-style base (see inset); the six bases connect to form a larger base incorporating different habitats for each of the species in the set.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: East Asia, including China, Formosa, Taiwan, Korea, Japan
Habitat: Supralittoral, often some distance from the sea, including swamps, mud flats, freshwater creeks, mountain streams
Diet: Omnivore; scavenger primarily on plant matter, but also occasionally animal matter
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: There is a population of C. haematocheir called yama-gani in Japan that lives on mountains 600 meters above sea level. They will return to fresh water to molt and lay eggs, but they spend most of their time on land.

[TheOwl98]

Species: Lethocerus americanus (Leidy, 1847) (giant water bug)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Skillcraft
Series: Insect Lab
Year of Production: 1998
Size/Scale: Body length 3.5 cm for a scale of 1:1.3-1:1.7
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: The Skillcraft Insect Lab is a model kit, and the figures must be assembled and painted by the user. These were some of my earliest attempts at painting figures. The main focus of the Insect Lab set was a large anatomical model of a field cricket. However, there were five individual insects (including today's) that were marketed at the species level, four of which are currently unique and a fifth which is uncommon in toy form.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: North America
Habitat: Ponds, marshes, edges of large lakes and slow rivers
Diet: Aquatic invertebrates, snails, small fish, amphibians
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Like other belostomatids, parental care is reversed in L. americanus, and the males care for the young. Eggs are laid near or in water attached to aquatic plants, stones, leaves, or submerged branches and guarded by the male. If the eggs are not submerged, the male will bring water to them to avoid desiccation.

How'd you do this display? I'm assuming there's no actual water?
(I've been wanting to do one for my Kaiyodo RevoGeo Water Bug).

[bmathison1972]

Hi @TheOwl98 - it's a three-dimensional diorama (the water at the top is a plastic sheet). I bought it on the Japanese Yahoo! auctions years ago. It's one of four '3D' dioramas I have presumably from the same artist (they are not commercially made)

Here is a quick-and-dirty pic of the diorama without any animals:



I bought them through @brettnj - he might know a search function to find more like them.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Dyscophus antongilii Grandidier, 1877
Common name(s): Madagascar tomato frog

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: K&M International
Series: Frogs Nature Tube
Year of Production: 2007
Size/Scale: Snout-to-vent length approximately 4.5 cm for a scale of 1:1.8-1:2.3 for a female (which this figure appears to be based on color)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique to rare (see below)
Miscellaneous Notes: I am not sure if K&M International specifically intended this figure to be D. antongilii, as their later tube and polybag figures are usually not stamped with names. They also made Dyscophus figures for their Madagascar Nature Tube and Madagascar Polyvinyl Bag collections, again apparently as generic 'tomato frogs'. I chose to have mine represent D. antongilii because I have a Colorata figure specifically marketed as the false tomato frog, D. guineti (which was seen in the Museum back on May 28, 2021). The two species may be conspecific anyway (see below).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Madagascar, especially around Antongil's Bay and south to Andevoranto. The full extent of its range is not known due to morphologic confusion with D. guineti (see below).
Habitat: Tropical and subtropical lowland forests, slow-moving rivers, swamps, freshwater marshes, plantations, canals and ditches, urban and suburban parks and gardens
Diet: Invertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: It has been suggested that Dyscophus antongilii and D. guineti are conspecific, historically being separated by faint color differences. The latter is more common in the eastern rainforest belt of Madagascar, but the two species overlap in Ambatovaky and possibly other regions, and the color differences may simply be be clinal in relation to distribution.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Bombyx mori (Linnaeus, 1758)
Common name(s): domestic silkworm moth

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Capsule Q Museum - Caterpillars Vol. 3; Capsule Q Museum - Sticky Tack Insect Set
Years of Production: 2015; 2016
Size/Scale: Adult: if wings were spread like a specimen, wingspan would come to approximately 5.0, within scale 1:1. Larva: body length 6.5 cm for a scale of 1.6:1.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: The larva was produced in 2015 for the third installment of the Capsule Q Museum Caterpillars series. The adult was produced in 2016 for the Sticky Tack Insect Set. Figures in the Sticky Tack Insect collection come with a unique option for display. The figures come with a plastic receptacle on the underside designed to hold accompanying 'sticky tack' so the toy can be affixed to vertical surfaces such as walls. This receptacle is removable, easily snapping in and out (for a couple of the figures in the set, the receptacle can be somewhat obtrusive).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Species originated in Southeast Asia; now bred throughout the world, especially Europe, Asia, and Australia
Habitat: Broadleaf forests
Diet: Larvae feed primarily on Morus alba (white mulberry); adults do not feed
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Domesticated
Miscellaneous Notes: In 2008 the entire genome of B. mori was published. Domestic lines of silk moths show high genetic diversity, but less than wild populations of related species. This suggests a single event of domestication that happened over a short period of time. However, whether this event happened in one location or in a short period in several locations, remains a mystery.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Leptodora kindtii (Focke, 1844)
Common name(s): predatory water flea

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Capsule Q Museum - Biwako
Year of Production: 2014
Size/Scale: Length (excluding appendages) approximately 5.5 cm for a scale of 4.6:1-2.6:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Substantial assembly is required, and I found this one of the harder Kaiyodo figures to assemble (it's also one of the harder figures to photograph nicely!).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Holarctic
Habitat: Freshwater ponds and lakes
Diet: Microcrustaceans
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Leptodora kindtii is the largest planktonic water flea. It is a predator of other crustaceans, especially water fleas in the genus Daphnia. Its body is approximately 98% transparent, a defensive adaptation against predation by fish.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Prosopocoilus fabricei Lacroix, 1988

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Sega
Series: Mushi King - standard series, small
Year of Production: unknown
Size/Scale: Length (including mandibles) 5.0 cm for a scale of 1:1.3-1:1.6 depending on subspecies (see below)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the sixth species of Prosopocoilus we've seen in the Museum. The Sega 'small standard series' were 10 sets of 10 figures each, for a total of 100 figures representing roughly 75 species of Lucanidae and dynastine Scarabaeidae. The dates of release are currently unknown to me (c. 2008). The figures were produced in conjunction with Bandai and came with Pokemon-style playing cards. At the time of this writing, I think I have all but two of the species. For a review of the sets, please see here.


About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Indonesia (Pelend and Taliabu)
Habitat: Broadleaf forests
Diet: Larvae develop in rotting wood; adults feed on tree sap
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: I had a hard time researching information on this species, and some of the biological information above is inferred from other species in the genus. From what I can tell, there are two subspecies: the nominate P. f. fabricei on Pelend Island, Indonesia and the larger P. f. takakuwai on Taliabu Island, Indonesia.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Pitta nympha Temminck & Schlegel, 1850
Common name(s): fairy pitta

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Choco Q Museum - Shikoku
Year of Production: 2013
Size/Scale: Body length 4.5 cm for a scale of 1:3.5-1:4.3
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Some assembly is required and the bird is removable from its base

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: East Asia (China, Korean Peninsula, Japan); wintering occurs in Southeast Asia to Borneo
Habitat: Broadleaf and mixed forests, riparian areas, coasts, coastal islands; often among dense undergrowth on or near the ground
Diet: Terrestrial invertebrates; occasionally small reptiles, amphibians, and mammals
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Vulnerable
Miscellaneous Notes: Pitta nympha does not exhibit sexual dimorphism and unlike many birds the female is as brilliantly colored as her male counterpart!

[bmathison1972]

Species: Allomyrina dichotoma (Linnaeus, 1771)
Common name(s): Japanese rhinoceros beetle; kabutomushi

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kabaya
Series: World Insect Series 1
Year of Production: 2002
Size/Scale: Body length (including cephalic horn) 3.7 cm for a scale of 1:2 for a large major male
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very common
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the 12th time we have seen A. dichotoma in the Museum. World Insect Series 1 collection consists of 15 species scarabaeoid beetle and five species of butterfly. Some of the beetles have fragility isses, easily losing legs and two of them crumbling outright new out of the box; forum member Beetle guy had a similar issue with his set (we suspect it had something to do with the paint, as it happened to two metallic species). There is also a World Insect Series 2, but I have never seen it and have no idea of its composition. Beetle figures by ShanTrip (for which I have showcased a few previously in this thread) appear to be Indian knockoffs of the World Insect Series figures. When I 'cleaned-up' my collection a little back in June 2022, the ShanTrip figures were among those purged .

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southeast Asia, including China, Korean Peninsula, Taiwan, and Japan
Habitat: Tropical and subtropical hardwood forests
Diet: Larvae feed on organic detritus in soil; adults are attracted to sap and overripe fruit
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Like many other large dynastines, A. dichotoma is sexually dimorphic, and only males have the prominent pronotal horn and elongated cephalic horn. Male beetles can vary greatly in body size and horn performance across populations and regions, suggesting such differences are due to relative intensities of selection.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Marsupenaeus japonicus (Spence Bate, 1888)
Common name(s): Japanese tiger shrimp; Karuma prawn

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Enoshima Aquarium
Year of Production: 2013
Size/Scale: Bottlecap base 3.3 cm in diameter. Body length 5.0 cm for a scale of 1:3.3
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Minimal assembly required (the antennae need to be attached) and the shrimp is removable from its base.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Indo-West Pacific; naturalized in the Mediterranean Sea, originally as a Lissepsian migrant but also via intentional releases
Habitat: Inland seas and bays; benthic, in muddy and sandy areas at depths of 0-90 meters
Diet: Algae, organic detritus
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Marsupenaeus japonicus is one of the most economically important shrimp species. Since 2003, more than 38,000 tonnes have produced annually in shrimp farms, with a value of over $200 million USD.