Mathison Museum of Natural History

[bmathison1972]

Species: Paraleptuca crassipes (White, 1847)
Common name(s): thick-legged fiddler crab

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Wing Mau
Series: Aquatic Museum
Year of Production: unknown
Size/Scale: Carapace width 2.9 cm, within scale 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare (see below)
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure is technically unique by major/professional manufacturers, but forum member Jetoar made this species for Paleo-Creatures (Unknown Depths). 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: West Pacific
Habitat: Mangrove swamps, intertidal mudflats
Diet: Algae, small invertebrates, detritus
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Paraleptuca crassipes is one of the most abundant species in its range, especially at mid and high tidal zones and in mangrove swamps. It is sometimes found among human habitations, living under stilted houses. Historically, P. crassipes was classified as an eastern subspecies of P. chlorophthalmus, which as presently defined lives in the western Indian Ocean.

[bmathison1972]

Back-to-back 'crabs' 


Species: Pthirus pubis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Common name(s): pubic louse; crab louse

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Capsule Q Museum - Sanitary Insect Pest Exhibition
Year of Production: 2015
Size/Scale: Body length 4.0 cm long for a scale of 26:1-20:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: I was trying to think of a tactful way to photograph this particular species. While not a common habitat for this species, I ended up photographing it on my arm. I almost photographed it on a pair of boxers but wasn't sure how that would have gone over with some forum members . Surprisingly, this is not the first toy pubic louse! Play Visions produced one back in 1996 and I have seen older vintage rubber 'jiggler' style toys. I think P. pubis may have been part of the Creepy Crawlers Thingmaker or Creepy Crawlers Thingmaker II model sets (at least one of the human louse species was); I had the latter when I was a kid, but I can't remember.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Cosmopolitan
Habitat: Human hosts, usually on coarse hair (pubic hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, male chest and facial hair)
Diet: Human blood
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: There is one other extant species of Pthirus, P. gorillae, a parasite of gorillas in East Africa. It is believed that P. pubis diverged from P. gorillae approximately 3-4 million years ago; the host jump probably occurred when early humans wore gorilla pelts or slept in abandoned gorilla sleeping nests.



Last year, I co-authored a minireview on lice: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0196439922000393
PM me with your email if you want a copy LOL

[AnimalToyForum]

Nice lice!

[bmathison1972]

Species: Homarus americanus Milne-Edwards, 1837
Common name(s): Maine lobster; American lobster

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Enoshima Aquarium
Year of Production: 2011
Size/Scale: Bottlecap base 3.5 cm in diameter. Body length approximately 5.0 cm for a scale of 1:5-1:12.8
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: No assembly is required and the lobster is removable from its base.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Northwest Atlantic, from Labrador to North Carolina; introduced to Norway and Iceland
Habitat: Benthic; sandy and muddy areas in coastal and shelf waters at depths of 0-480 meters (usual range 4-50 meters)
Diet: Carrion, benthic invertebrates, algae, eelgrass
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Homarus americanus is a popular and important commercial crustacean; nearly 115,000 tonnes are caught annually, with about 57,000 tonnes coming from the waters around Maine.

[Isidro]

I would have expected that for the largest extant arthropod on Earth, a 5 cm figure (if lenght follows the curvature of pleon) would result in a scale a bit bigger than 1:13 for one of the very large specimens. But I'm terribly bad at maths.

[bmathison1972]

Species: †Bathyurus ingalli Raymond, 1913

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Ancient Fossils TOOB; Safariology - Ancient Fossils
Years of Production: 2009; 2012
Size/Scale: Body length of TOOB figure 4.5 cm, within scale 1:1. Body length of Safariology figure 11.5 cm for a scale of approximately 2:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare (unique as a pair)
Miscellaneous Notes: The TOOB figure was produced in 2009; the larger Safariology figure was produced in 2012. Safari Ltd. marketed the TOOB figure as Raymondites, which is now considered a subgenus of Bathyurus. The Safariology figure wasn't marketed at the genus level, but is clearly just a larger version of the TOOB figure. The species-level identification is my own, based on images online, including one of a specimen from the AMNH, that may have been the influence for the original TOOB figure. At some point the TOOB was re-released with slight alterations in the paint color; in the newer set the rock matrix around the trilobite was painted tan rather than grey.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Ordovician of present-day northeastern North America (Ontario, Wisconsin)
Habitat: Benthic; in shallow, peritidal waters
Diet: Deposit feeder of organic material in marine sediment
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: Raymondites was originally described as a subgenus of Bathyurus in 1944. In 1953 and then again in 1959, Raymondites was elevated to the genus level to include non-spinose species. A phylogenetic analysis in 2015 showed that Raymondites is probably best left as a subgenus of Bathyurus, with the two taxa united by the loss of the anterior border on the frontal area (with a reversal in one species). Other characters in common with both taxa are the presence of a tuberculate structure on the glabella, a relatively short palebral lobe with a length less than half of preoccipital glabellar length, and a pygidial outline that is rounded posteriorly. Most species possess occipital spines and axial pygidial spines (in species where the pygidium has been recovered).

[bmathison1972]

Species: Crematogaster lineolata (Say, 1836)
Common name(s): Texas shed-builder ant

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Club Earth
Series: Ants and Termites
Year of Production: unknown
Size/Scale: Body length 4.8 cm for a scale of 19.2:1-13.7:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Ants are very common in 'bin sets' of insects, but we so rarely get them marketed at the genus or species level. All of the figures in Club Earth's Ants and Termites collection come with common English names stamped on the underside; they all seem to represent Nearctic species.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Eastern North America, from southern Canada to Mexico
Habitat: Mixed hardwood forests, swampy and floodplain forests, grasslands; nests usually occur in logs, tree stumps, in acorns or other nuts on the ground, and under rocks
Diet: Honeydew derived from aphids
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Crematogaster lineolata typically has small colonies (less than a few hundred workers) that are monogynous (with only one queen). Since some of the smaller colonies, especially those that occur in excavated acorns and other large nuts, don't have queens, it is believed the ant can exhibit polydomous nesting behavior, meaning the colony is inhabiting multiple nests that are spatially separated.

[bmathison1972]

Not only did the Random Number Generator land on a figure in the same set as yesterday's, physically they are right next to each other in my collection! Gotta love randomness!

Species: Myrmecocystus spp.
Common name(s): honeypot ants; honey ants

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Club Earth
Series: Ants and Termites
Year of Production: unknown
Size/Scale: Body length (exclusive of wings and appendages) 4.0 cm for a scale of 4.5:1 for an alate (see below)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique (see below)
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure is stamped 'Arid Lands Honey Ant' but I cannot find a specific species attributable to that common name, and most species in the genus live in arid environments. The measurements above are based on M. mimicus. Interesting Club Earth chose to have this figure represent an alate (winged specimen), since honeypot ants are best known for their repletes (see below). At the time of this writing, this figure is unique; however, later this year CollectA will be releasing a honeypot ant, which will represent a replete!

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Western United States and Mexico
Habitat: Arid and semi-arid habitats, including juniper woodlands, sage scrub, arid grasslands, saltbush deserts, steppes
Diet: Nectar, honeydew derived from sternorrhynchan insects, and honey from repletes (see below)
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [species-dependent, but none are currently listed on the IUCN's website]
Miscellaneous Notes: Honeypot ants are best known for the replete, or plerergate, members of their caste system. Repletes are sterile works that serve as food reserves for when other food sources are scarce. The repletes hang from the 'ceiling' of the nest and are gorged with food to the point their abdomens become greatly distended with honey. When needed, other worker ants will gently stroke the antennae of the replete, getting it to regurgitate stored liquid in its crop. Honeypot ants have been used a food source for indigenous peoples in Southwest North America and Australia.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Fistulobalanus albicostatus (Pilsbry, 1916)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kitan Club
Series: Nature Techni Colour - Barnacles
Year of Production: 2012
Size/Scale: Figures 1.1 cm and 1.8 cm, respectively, across their widest points, within scale 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique (as a pair)
Miscellaneous Notes: These figures were marketed as Amphibalanus albicostatus, which is now regarded as a synonym of F. albicostatus. Both of these figures have non-obtrusive magnets on the underside.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: West Pacific; introduced to California on planted batches of Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas).
Habitat: Mid-to-lower intertidal and sheltered waters; usually on hard surfaces such as docks, logs, mangroves, rocks, ship hulls, and the shells of oysters and other shellfish
Diet: Suspension feeder of zooplankton and phytoplankton
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Fistulobalanus albicostatus is considered a species of fouling barnacle. Fouling is the accumulation of marine organisms on the surface of natural or artificial structures. When fouling barnacles accumulate on the hull of a ship, there becomes a negative impact on the hydrodynamic drag as the shells of the animal create increased friction between the hull and water. This also results in increased fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Poecilotheria regalis Pocock, 1899
Common name(s): Indian ornamental tarantula; Indian ornamental tree spider

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Play Visions
Series: Habitat Earth - Tarantulas and Spiders
Year of Production: 1995
Size/Scale: Legspan 7.0 cm for a scale of approximately 1:3
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: The paint job here is a bit stylized and may have been influenced more by the ventral side of the spider rather than the dorsal side (this happens from time-to-time with older figures), although occasionally adult female specimens will have bold yellow on the dorsal portion of the legs. To my knowledge, this is the only figure specifically marketed as P. regalis. In 2021, Tarlin released a spider that was clearly influenced by something in the genus Poecilotheria to which I have personally assigned the species P. regalis.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southern India (Western and Eastern Ghats)
Habitat: Montane rainforest; arboreal
Diet: Flying insects
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Poecilotheria regalis is described as having a 'medically significant' venom, even though there are no reported deaths attributed to P. regalis. Symptoms reported with the bite of P. regalis include local swelling, erythema, mild to severe pain, generalized muscle cramps, burning sensation, fever, myalgia, heavy breathing, increased heart rate, and brief loss of consciousness.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Prosopocoilus dissimilis (Boileau, 1898)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Bandai
Series: Diversity of Life on Earth - Stag Beetles Vol. 1
Year of Production: 2020
Size/Scale: Wingspan 15.5 cm. Body length (including mandibles) 13.5 cm for a scale of approximately 2:1 for a large major male specimen
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the third time we've seen P. dissimilis in the Museum. Like most other models in the Diversity of Life on Earth line, this beetle is large, requires assembly, is articulated, and may be expensive. It's a model for serious collectors and not a toy to be played with. Today's figure was in the first of the Diversity of Life on Earth beetle sets, and it's a little cruder than future releases. It also came in black and has the option of being displayed on a base (not shown) as if in flight.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Japan
Habitat: Hardwood forests
Diet: Larvae feed in rotting logs; adults are attracted to sap flows
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Depending on the taxonomy used, there are anywhere from 2-6 subspecies of P. dissimilis, all endemic to various Japanese islands. Based on the most liberal system, those six subspecies and their geographic distributions are as follows: P. d. dissimilis (Amami-oshima Island and Kakeromajima Islands); P. d. elegans (Tokara Islands); P. d. makinoi (Tokunoskima Island); P. d. okinoerabuanus (Okinoerabukima Island); P. d. okinawanus (Okinawa, Minnajima, Sesokojima, Iheyajima, and Kourijima Islands); P. d. kumejimaensis (Kumejima Island). In a more conservative system, there are two subspecies, P. d. dissimilis (which contains all of the aforemented subspecies as synonyms) and P. d. hayashii (Iheyajima Island).

[bmathison1972]

Species: Pearsonothuria graeffei (Semper, 1868)
Common name(s): blackspotted sea cucumber; Graeffe's sea cucumber

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Cadbury
Series: Yowies Series 3
Year of Production: 1999
Size/Scale: Body length 6.5 cm for a scale of 1:4.5-1:7
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Being one of the original Australian Yowies, some assembly is required and the final product is slightly articulated.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Indo-Pacific
Habitat: Coral reefs, at depths of 0-30 meters
Diet: Scavenger on organic material and debris
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Spawning and fertilization of P. graeffei is external. The sea cucumber is known to spawn simultaneously with other echinoderms, including the crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) and the porcupine sea urchin (Diadema setosum). Juvenile P. graeffei mimic the aposematic sea slug, Phyllidia varicosa.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Iguana iguana (Linnaeus, 1758)
Common name(s): green iguana; common green iguana

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: CollectA
Series: Wildlife
Year of Production: 2022
Size/Scale: Figure approximately 13.5 cm across its widest dimensions. Snout-to-vent length 9.5 cm for a scale of 1:3.2-1:5.3 (see below)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: It's probably safe to say that at the time of this writing, this is the green iguana figure to get, as long as it's not too big for one's tastes. It's a similar scale to the Wild Safari figure from 2004 but larger than those by Schleich (2000; 2022). Based on the ratios, today's figure by CollectA is not sculpted with a tail with a length expected in an adult that didn't loose part of it at some point in its life (e.g., autotomy) and the scale above is calculated using snout-to-vent ratio rather than a total body length of about 2 meters. I had trouble finding more than one reference that agreed on the SVL for I. iguana, and most sites devoted to keeping iguanas as pets tend to exaggerate sizes (either that or captive iguanas grow larger than their wild counterparts). The above scale is based on an average SVL range of 30-50 centimeters, which encompasses several references.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Central and South America, several Caribbean islands. Naturalized in southern USA (Texas, Florida), Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Hawaii, and several other Caribbean islands, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Habitat: Rainforest, subtropical woodlands, swamps; arboreal and usually near water
Diet: Leaves, fruit; occasionally invertebrates, carrion, bird eggs
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Iguana iguana is an adaptable species and can easily become established in areas that do not seasonally freeze, such as the case for Florida, where the subtropical climate, abundant rainfall, expansive areas modified by humans, and numerous international ports of entry have allowed I. iguana to become an invasive species. The first documented I. iguana in Florida was in the 1960s, when an exotic pet dealer reportedly intentionally released more than 300 into the Miami area. Many people who buy baby iguanas as pets are not prepared to deal with them as they get larger and will release them into the wild; others escape on their own (as people who own adult iguanas often let them have the 'run of the house'). The negative risk of I. iguana in Florida has not been fully established. One potential risk is the lizards using burrows of native burrowing owls and gopher tortoises and potentially displacing those animals from their burrows. Another is that green iguanas like to feed on gray nickerbean (Guilandina bonduc), which is one of the two primary host plants for the Miami blue butterfly (Cycloargus thomasi), a federally protected species. The green iguana is also considered a general nuisance pest in Florida, eating flowers and fruit from gardens and ornamental plants and depositing guano on docks, moored boats, seawalls, porches, decks, and inside swimming pools.
 

[bmathison1972]

Species: Protogoniomorpha temora (Felder & Felder, 1867)
Common name(s): blue mother-of-pearl; eastern blue butterfly

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Blip Toys
Series: Nature's Wonders HD
Year of Production: 2008
Size/Scale: Wingspan 9.0 cm for a scale of approximately 1.5:1-1.2:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: The wings on this figure are painted the same ventrally as they dorsally, which is not correct. The underside of the wings of P. temora resemble dead leaves, so the butterfly is camouflaged when resting on or near the forest floor with its wings closed. It also has six functional legs, which is also not correct for a member of the family Nymphalidae (a very common mistake among toy butterflies).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Equatorial Africa
Habitat: Rainforest, riparian thickets, disturbed forest, agricultural land
Diet: Larvae feed on several plants in the family Acanthaceae, including Asystasia, Eremomastax, Justicia (water-willows), Mellera, and Mimulopsis; adults take nectar from flowers and nutrients from mud puddles
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Protogoniomorpha has historically been considered a synonym of Salamis but was given genus-level status in 2005. There are two subspecies of P. temora, the nominate P. t. temora, which occurs throughout much of Equatorial Africa, and P. t. virescens, which is endemic to the Nguru and Uluguru Mountains of Tanzania.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Tachybaptus ruficollis (Pallas, 1764)
Common name(s): little grebe; dabchick

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Capsule Q Museum - Biwako
Year of Production: 2014
Size/Scale: Total figure height 4.0 cm. Scale difficult to calculate but total body length approximately 6.5 cm for a scale of 1:3.5-1:4.5
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Assembly is required and the bird is removable from its base. Kaiyodo also made this species for their Birdtales line.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Old World, including most of Europe, much of sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar, Central Asia, Indian subcontinent, East Asia south to the Philippines and New Guinea, and Japan
Habitat: Heavily vegetated freshwater lakes and ponds, usually among reeds and other vegetation; more common in open and coastal water in the winter
Diet: Fish, freshwater invertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Tachybaptus ruficollis is highly adapted for swimming and diving; with its legs set far back on its body, it does not walk well on land. Tachybaptus ruficollis uses aquatic vegetation, such as reeds, as a hiding place and dives quickly to catch potential prey. Because T. ruficollis isn't well-adapted to spend prolonged time on land, nests are usually made near the water's edge.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Hippotragus equinus (Desmarest, 1804)
Common name(s): roan antelope

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Caboodle! Toys LLC
Series: Noah's Pals
Year of Production: unknown
Size/Scale: Shoulder height of male 6.7 cm for a scale of 1:22-1:24. Shoulder height of female 6.5 cm for a scale of 1:22-1:25.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique (as a pair)
Miscellaneous Notes: I am not in the habit (yet) of collecting male and female pairs for most animals (at least not ungulates), but Noah's Pals animals are sold as pairs. They are all advertised as being in the 1:24 scale range.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Central Africa, from the southern end of the Sahara Desert to Botswana
Habitat: Open woodlands, shrublands, grasslands, savanna
Diet: Grasses and other foliage, generally preferring leaves over stems
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Hippotragus equinus lives in herds of up to 35 animals, although herds of 6-15 are more common. A herd consists of a single, dominant male and a group of females and their young. There is a hierarchy among the females, with one dominant female leading the others. Juvenile males are driven from the herd as they near sexual maturity and form bachelor herds. At about 5-6 years of age, these bachelor herds break up and individual males try to take over herds of females. Males will defend an area of about 300-500 meters outward from their herd; territories of different herds rarely overlap.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Sasakia charonda (Hewitson, 1863)
Common name(s): great purple emperor; Japanese emperor

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Ikimon
Series: Science Techni Colour - Private Specimen of a Lepidopterists Acrylic Mascot 1
Year of Production: 2017
Size/Scale: Wingspan 5.0 cm, within scale 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the third time we've seen S. charonda in the Museum. The figures in this series are essentially photographs of butterflies and moths embedded in acrylic. Flip the figure over and the underside reveals an image of the ventral side of the animal, too. They are also sold as keychains (hence the hole in the acrylic above the head).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: East Asia, Japan
Habitat: Broadleaf forests, usually in the upper canopies
Diet: Larvae feed on plants in the genus Celtis (hackberry); adults are attracted to overripe fruit and sap flows, especially of Quercus (oak)
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Sasakia charonda is the national butterfly of Japan, where it goes by the name ō-murasaki ('great purple').

[bmathison1972]

Species: †Patagotitan mayorum Carballido et al., 2017

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Wild Safari Prehistoric World
Year of Production: 2022
Size/Scale: Body length approximately 47.0 cm for a scale of 1:78 based on an estimated natural length of 37 meters. Using the front femur as a metric (n=3.5 cm), the scale comes to about 1:68 based on specimen MPEF-PV 3399/44.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: I don't have a lot to say about this figure, since it's currently unique for its species with nothing to compare it to and I don't have a strong base of knowledge about sauropods. Some concerns others have had include an extra claw on the hind foot and that proportionally, the head might be too big (based on other titanosaurs; as far as I know, the head of Patagotitan remains undiscovered). Some people criticized the posture, prefering titanosaurs to be more upright. I can see that argument for a neutral standing or walking posture, but this figure's posture could be realistic for a variety of scenarios, such as browsing low vegetation, tending to young, or possibly engaging a would-be predator.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Early Cretaceous (Albian) of present-day Argentina
Habitat: Open coniferous forests and adjacent floodplains
Diet: Plants, probably primarily conifers and cypress
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: Plant fossils recovered around P. mayorum suggest a habitat of forest dominated by conifers and cypress, with angiosperms being rare, adjacent to floodplains. Adult P. mayorum probably had few if any natural predators, but it may have shared its habitat and range with theropods Tyrannotitan and Genyodectes which may have hunted juvenile, weak, or sick Patagotitan.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Harmonia axyridis (Pallas, 1773)
Common name(s): Asian lady beetle; multicolored Asian lady beetle (MALB)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Capsule Q Museum - Sticky Tack Insect Set
Year of Production: 2016
Size/Scale: Body length 2.3 cm for a scale of 4.6:1-2.9:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the second time we've seen H. axyridis in the Museum. 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: Native to East Asia and Japan; naturalized throughout much of North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Israel, and South Africa
Habitat: Open fields, meadows, agricultural fields, greenhouses, gardens; in introduced areas it is often found in urban and suburban areas around human habitations.
Diet: Soft-bodied insects, primarily aphids and scale insects
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Like several other lady beetles, H. axyridis likes to congregate in very large numbers during the winter months. In North America, H. axyridis is attracted to light-colored dwellings and other manmade objects. As such, these large congregations often end up inside houses, garages, and places of business (hence the theme of today's image). Aggregations in houses and buildings have been documented to contain as many as 15,000-20,000 lady beetles! In addition to these large numbers, the insect secretes a foul-smelling defensive compound when disturbed, which can soil drapes, clothing, upholstered furniture, books and papers, etc.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Anthocharis cardamines (Linnaeus, 1758)
Common name(s): orange-tip

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Birdtales Series 3
Year of Production: 2006
Size/Scale: Bottlecap base 3.3 cm in diameter. Wingspan 2.5 cm for a scale of approximately 1:1.5-1:2
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: The butterfly is removable from its base; the butterfly is one piece but the entire figure requires some assembly.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Eurasia
Habitat: Females are found in open meadows; males are found along the edges and clearings of forests and woodlands. The two sexes generally only encounter one another for mating when the female enters the male's habitat.
Diet: Larvae feed on the inflorescence of a variety of plants in the family Brassicaceae, including Alliaria (garlic mustard), Arabis (rockcress), Barbarea (winter cress), Brassica (cabbage, turnip, kale), Capsella, Cardamine (bittercress), Isatis, Rorippa (yellowcress), and Thlastpi (pennycress); adults take nectar from flowers
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Anthocharis cardamines is not only sexually dimorphic, it also behaves differently between the sexes. Only males have the orange tip to their forewings that gives the butterfly its common name. Males spend almost their entire lives along forest edges and clearings, usually only crossing meadows to get to another forest margin. Females spend most of their time in meadows and fields, entering forests and the edges of forests to mate and then returning to the nearby meadows and fields.