Mathison Museum of Natural History

[bmathison1972]

Species: Papilio machaon Linnaeus, 1758 (Old World swallowtail, larva)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Capsule Q Museum - Caterpillars Vol. 2
Year of Release: 2014
Size/Scale: Figure length 6.8 cm for a scale of 1.5:1-1.1:1 (slightly larger than 1:1 for a large specimen)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: I actually have more figures of the larva of P. machaon than I do the adult! Today's figure was from the second of four (to date) caterpillar collections in the Capsule Q Museum line. Some of the figures in the collections have wires in them and are poseable (not this one, however). For those who find it a challenge to acquire Japanese figures, Papo is slated to produce both an adult and larva of this species later this year.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Holarctic
Habitat: Highly varied, including forests, grasslands, hilltops, Alpine meadows, tundra, wetlands, disturbed areas, gardens
Diet: Larvae feed on primarily on plants in the families Apiaceae (umbillifers), but also Rutaceae (rues); adults take nectar from flowers.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Papilio machaon is probably the most widely distributed species of Papilio. Despite the common name 'Old World' swallowtail, it occurs throughout much of the Holarctic, including much of Europe, Asia (including the Middle East, northern Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia to northern Myanmar, and Japan), and western and northern North America.

[Isidro]

It surprises me a lot to find that "our" Papilio also happens in North America.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Attacus atlas (Linnaeus, 1758) (Atlas moth)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Capsule Q Museum - Yaeyama
Year of Release: 2014
Size/Scale: Figure width 6.0 cm. Measuring individual features, wingspan comes to 8.7 cm for a scale of just under 1:3.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Assembly as required (and like several from the Yaeyama collection, not always easy).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southeast Asia
Habitat: Tropical dry forest, secondary forests, shrubland
Diet: Larvae feed on a variety of plants, including Ailanthus (ailanthus), Cinnamomum (cinnamon), Citrus (citrus), and Magnifera (mango); adults do not feed.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: On average, Attacus atlast is the third largest lepidopteran with regards to wingspan, measuring up to 24 cm. It follows the white witch, Thysania agrippina, (30 cm) and the caesar moth, Attacus caesar (25.5 cm).

[JimoAi]

Species: Attacus atlas (Linnaeus, 1758) (atlas moth)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Capsule Q Museum - Yaeyama
Year of Release: 2014
Size/Scale: Figure width 6.0 cm. Measuring individual features, wingspan comes to 8.7 cm for a scale of just under 1:3.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Assembly as required (and like several from the Yaeyama collection, not always easy).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southeast Asia
Habitat: Tropical dry forest, secondary forests, shrubland
Diet: Larvae feed on a variety of plants, including Ailanthus (ailanthus), Cinnamomum (cinnamon), Citrus (citrus), and Magnifera (mango); adults do not feed.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: On average, Attacus atlast is the third largest lepidopteran with regards to wingspan, measuring up to 24 cm. It follows the white witch, Thysania agrippina, (30 cm) and the caesar moth, Attacus caesar (25.5 cm).

I remember seeing one in a bus stop

[bmathison1972]

Species: Attacus atlas (Linnaeus, 1758) (atlas moth)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Capsule Q Museum - Yaeyama
Year of Release: 2014
Size/Scale: Figure width 6.0 cm. Measuring individual features, wingspan comes to 8.7 cm for a scale of just under 1:3.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Assembly as required (and like several from the Yaeyama collection, not always easy).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southeast Asia
Habitat: Tropical dry forest, secondary forests, shrubland
Diet: Larvae feed on a variety of plants, including Ailanthus (ailanthus), Cinnamomum (cinnamon), Citrus (citrus), and Magnifera (mango); adults do not feed.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: On average, Attacus atlast is the third largest lepidopteran with regards to wingspan, measuring up to 24 cm. It follows the white witch, Thysania agrippina, (30 cm) and the caesar moth, Attacus caesar (25.5 cm).

I remember seeing one in a bus stop

Lucky! 

[JimoAi]

Species: Attacus atlas (Linnaeus, 1758) (atlas moth)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Capsule Q Museum - Yaeyama
Year of Release: 2014
Size/Scale: Figure width 6.0 cm. Measuring individual features, wingspan comes to 8.7 cm for a scale of just under 1:3.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Assembly as required (and like several from the Yaeyama collection, not always easy).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southeast Asia
Habitat: Tropical dry forest, secondary forests, shrubland
Diet: Larvae feed on a variety of plants, including Ailanthus (ailanthus), Cinnamomum (cinnamon), Citrus (citrus), and Magnifera (mango); adults do not feed.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: On average, Attacus atlast is the third largest lepidopteran with regards to wingspan, measuring up to 24 cm. It follows the white witch, Thysania agrippina, (30 cm) and the caesar moth, Attacus caesar (25.5 cm).

I remember seeing one in a bus stop

Lucky! 

Quite sad too, considering how much firsts has been cleared

[Isidro]

Wow, so do you live in SE Asia or it was an escape from a butterfly house? (these critters are quite popular in butterfly houses).

I always tought that first butterfly by wing surface was Coscinoscera hercules, second Attacus atlas and third other Attacus and only after them the Thysania agrippina. Those Thysania I've seen in collections always looked like to me smaller than the giant saturnids at first impression.

[bmathison1972]

Wow, so do you live in SE Asia or it was an escape from a butterfly house? (these critters are quite popular in butterfly houses).

I always tought that first butterfly by wing surface was Coscinoscera hercules, second Attacus atlas and third other Attacus and only after them the Thysania agrippina. Those Thysania I've seen in collections always looked like to me smaller than the giant saturnids at first impression.

Those numbers are for wingspan only, not surface area.

[JimoAi]

Wow, so do you live in SE Asia or it was an escape from a butterfly house? (these critters are quite popular in butterfly houses).

I always tought that first butterfly by wing surface was Coscinoscera hercules, second Attacus atlas and third other Attacus and only after them the Thysania agrippina. Those Thysania I've seen in collections always looked like to me smaller than the giant saturnids at first impression.

I live in SE asia, in Singapore to be specific

[Isidro]

Ahhh I misunderstood, thanks!

[bmathison1972]

Species: Lissodelphis peronii (Lacépède, 1804) (southern right whale dolphin)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Dolphins TOOB
Year of Release: 2019
Size/Scale: Body length 8.7 cm for a scale of 1:23-1:34
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: The 2019 Dolphins TOOB by Safari is a great way to get incredible figures of dolphin species, several rare and unique.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Circumpolar in the Southern Hemisphere, in temperate to subantarctic oceans
Habitat: Pelagic, at an average depth of 200 meters
Diet: mesopelagic fish and squid
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Lissodelphis peronii is usually gregrious, and often occurs in pods with anywhere from 10 to nearly 1000 individuals (average about 210). Pods are often mixed with other cetacean species, including common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), pilot whales (Globicephala species), common dolphins (Delphinus delphis), and hourglass dolphins (Lagenorhynchus crugiger).

[Isidro]

One of my most favourite dolphin species, and I want like mad that Safari do it (and the others in the same toob) at more conventional scale for match with my other dolphins!

[bmathison1972]

Species: Myotis lucifugus (LeConte in McMurtrie, 1831) (little brown bat)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Great Lakes TOOB
Year of Release: 2020
Size/Scale: Wingspan 8.0 cm. Body length 2.3 cm for a scale of 1:3.5-1:4.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Bat figures are rarely marketed to the species level. This is probably the best representative of M. lucifugus, especially at this small size.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Much of North America except for parts of the Southwest, Midwest, and extreme Southeast.
Habitat: Forests and forest edges, often in riparian habitats. Roosts in tree hollows, wood piles, rock piles, caves, and manmade structures during the day; hibernates in caves and mines.
Diet: Insects and other arthropods
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Endangered
Miscellaneous Notes: This widespread species has experienced severe population declines in the last couple decades, especially in the Northeast, due to white-nose syndrome caused by the fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans. It is believed this fungus was introduced to America from Europe, although it doesn't appear to be pathogenic in European bats.

[callmejoe3]

Species: Lissodelphis peronii (Lacépède, 1804) (southern right whale dolphin)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Dolphins TOOB
Year of Release: 2019
Size/Scale: Body length 8.7 cm for a scale of 1:23-1:34
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: The 2019 Dolphins TOOB by Safari is a great way to get incredible figures of dolphin species, several rare and unique.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Circumpolar in the Southern Hemisphere, in temperate to subantarctic oceans
Habitat: Pelagic, at an average depth of 200 meters
Diet: mesopelagic fish and squid
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Lissodelphis peronii is usually gregrious, and often occurs in pods with anywhere from 10 to nearly 1000 individuals (average about 210). Pods are often mixed with other cetacean species, including common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), pilot whales (Globicephala species), common dolphins (Delphinus delphis), and hourglass dolphins (Lagenorhynchus crugiger).

I really love the Safari TOOB dolphin set as a 1:40 scale collector. Some are slightly better for 1:35 such as this figure, but overall they're convenient for covering a broad range of taxa within Delphinidae.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Pagurus filholi (De Man, 1887)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Takara Tomy A.R.T.S.
Series: Friends of the Water
Year of Release: 2019
Size/Scale: Figure width 5.5 cm. Carapace shield length 0.8 cm for a scale of approximately 1.8:1-1.6:1 (based on holotypes of both P. filholi and P. geminus, see below)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure comes in two main pieces: 1) the entire body of the crab itself and 2) its gastropod shell. The collector must place the crab into its shell (and it is a very snug fit, indeed). This is probably the only figure that shows a detailed sculpt of the entire body of a hermit crab! In addition, the claws also to be attached. Takara is scheduled to release another version of this figure in 2021 for the third installment of the Friends of Water collections, but I am not sure yet if it represents the same species.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Japan
Habitat: Intertidal zone, usually in rocky areas
Diet: Scavengers, especially on algae
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: I had difficulty researching information on this species as presently delineated. Past records of P. samuelis from Japan however refer to P. filholi, as the former is considered restricted to the West Coast of North America. In 1976, McLaughlin described P. geminus from Japan, which is now placed in synonymy with P. filholi. Given these taxonomic updates, the P. samuelis figure produced by Yujin should be considered P. filholi as well, since the set in which it was released focused on the Japanese fauna.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Mydaus javanensis (Desmarest, 1820) (Sunda stink badger)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Arboreum Artwork
Series: 1:10 Animals
Year of Release: 2019
Size/Scale: Body length 5.5 cm for a scale of about 1:6.7-1:10
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: This is a resin figure made by forum member Panji Zulkaisar out of Indonesia. Most figures in the collection are around 1:10 in scale.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Java, Sumatra, Borneo, northern Natuna Islands
Habitat: Primary and secondary forests, forest edges, floodplains
Diet: Earthworms, insects, eggs, carrion, plant material
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Mydaus javanensis gets its common name 'stink badger' from its well-developed scent gland. When threatened, it can emit a pungent, milky-green, foul-smelling secretion, and it can shoot it with some accuracy up to about 15 cm! The secretion is nauseating and damaging to a would-be predator; dogs have been asphyxiated by the fluid and humans have fainted from the stench!

[bmathison1972]

Species: Osmylops pallidus Tillyard in Withycombe, 1926 (ruby-eyed lacewing)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Cadbury
Series: Yowies Series 4
Year of Release: 1999
Size/Scale: Total figure length 8.5 cm. Body length (excluding wings and antennae) 4.0 cm. I cannot find any measurements of this species to calculate scale. A related species, O. sejunctus, has a forewing length of 2.34 cm; if the two species are comparable in size, the scale would calculate to 1.7:1 (roughly 2:1).
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: The accompanying paperwork for this figure is mislabeled as Nymphes myrmeleonides (although the image shows the correct species). Like other original Australian Yowies, assembly is required. To my knowledge, this is only one of two neuropterans made by major figure companies, the other being a larva of the myrmeleontid Hagenomyia micans by Kaiyodo in their Choco Q Animatales collection.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Eastern Australia
Habitat: Eucalyptus forests
Diet: Larvae are predaceous on other insects and arachnids; adults presumably as well
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: I had trouble researching information on this species, including the full extent of its geographic distribution and habitat within Australia and feeding habits of adults. The presumed carnivorous habits of the adult are based on other members of the family Nymphidae. Larvae apparently like to hangout on the underside of Eucalyptus leaves and act as ambush predators on passer-by insects and spiders.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Dynastes neptunus (Quensel, 1817) (Neptune beetle)

About the Figure:
Manufacturers: Kabaya and ShanTrip
Series: World Insect Series 1 (Kabaya); unknown (ShanTrip)
Year of Release: 2002 (Kabaya); unknown (Shantrip)
Size/Scale: Body length (including horns) 5.5 cm, for a scale of nearly 1:3 for a large, major male specimen
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Common
Miscellaneous Notes: This is our second look at this species in the Museum. The victor on the right, who is about to toss his opponent off the log, is the Kabaya figure. The loser on the left is a knock-off figure by Indian-based (I think) ShanTrip. I bought the ShanTrip figures on eBay, not realizing until I had them in-hand that they are just Kabaya knock-offs. Quality-wise, they are comparable.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela
Habitat: Rainforests
Diet: Larvae feed in rotting wood within treeholes of living trees, including Alchornea, Ocotea, and Urera; adults attracted to overripe fruit and sap flows.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Dynastes neptunus is one of the longest beetle species, with major males reaching a lengh of 16.0 cm (including horns). The related D. hercules is longer, however, at 18.8 cm.



Programming note: Tomorrow's post will be the 150th, so I will follow it up with some more statistics!

[JimoAi]

Oh neptune!

[bmathison1972]

Species: Bombycilla garrulus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Bohemian waxwing)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Chocoegg Animatales Series 4
Year of Release: 2000
Size/Scale: Figure height 5.0 cm. Body length approximately 6.0 cm for a scale of 1:3-1:4
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Being an original Chocoegg figure, some assembly is required.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Northern Holarctic
Habitat: Coniferous and mixed forests, riparian areas, urban habitats
Diet: Sugary fruits, flying insects
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Bombycilla garrulus often forms large flocks. Normal flocks are between 50-300 birds, but there are records of flocks of over 3000 individuals. Where their ranges overlap, B. garrulus can often be seen in mixed flocks with other waxwings. In the East Palearctic, flocks of B. garrulus mix with the Japanese waxwing, B. japonica. Here in North America, B. garrulus will mix with the cedar waxwing, B. cedorum. Interestingly, birding this past Sunday in a canyon nearby, I saw a small flock of B. cedorum (I didn't notice B. garrulus among them).