Mathison Museum of Natural History

[bmathison1972]

Species: Melolontha melolontha (Linnaeus, 1758) (common cockchafer)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Bullyland
Series: Small Insects and Spiders Collection
Year of Release: 1994
Size/Scale: Body length 4.5 cm, for a scale of 1.3:1-1.7:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: To my knowledge there are only two figures of this species, this one and a vintage 'mini' figure by Schleich.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Throughout much of Europe
Habitat: Forests, fields, gardens, parks, disturbed areas
Diet: Subterranean larvae live in soil and feed on the roots of various plants; adults feed on leaves and flowers
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Other common names for this and related species are 'May beetle', 'June beetle', and 'junebug'. These names come from these species commonly being active as adults in May and June.

[Lanthanotus]

Hmm.... I have that mini Schleich beetle.... and the other ones from this line I think. Used to collect all of these when I was a kid, they were like 20 to 50 Pfennige each and sold in big boxes, all mixed up so you had to seek them out. The insects were naturally much too large in comparison with the other figures, but nice to play with, with all their legs and antennas

[bmathison1972]

Hmm.... I have that mini Schleich beetle.... and the other ones from this line I think. Used to collect all of these when I was a kid, they were like 20 to 50 Pfennige each and sold in big boxes, all mixed up so you had to seek them out. The insects were naturally much too large in comparison with the other figures, but nice to play with, with all their legs and antennas

I lost my Schleich minis...too bad, one of the rare opportunities to get a dermapteran!

[bmathison1972]

Species: Hadrurus arizonensis Ewing, 1928 (Arizona desert hairy scorpion)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Desert TOOB
Year of Release: 2004
Size/Scale: Total figure length 6.4 cm. Body length (minus chelae) 6.0 cm, for a scale of of approximately 1:2.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: The species identification is my own, but given the theme of the TOOB (North American deserts) and the color, H. arizonensis is the most-likely candidate.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Sonoran and Mohave Deserts of southwestern USA and northern Mexico
Habitat: Deserts
Diet: Insects, arachnids, and small vertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Like all scorpions, H. arizonensis has a venomous sting, although it is not very potent to humans and has been described as resembling the sting of a honey bee.

[Halichoeres]

When my cousin was a baby, our house had an infestation of these. They were everywhere, hundreds of them. The things that happen when you build a house at the edge of town in a desert.

[bmathison1972]

When my cousin was a baby, our house had an infestation of these. They were everywhere, hundreds of them. The things that happen when you build a house at the edge of town in a desert.

Are you sure it was this species? Usually houses get infested with Centroides (the really poisonous ones in AZ).

[Isidro]

Centroides

mean Centruroides?

[bmathison1972]

Centroides

mean Centruroides?

Yes. thanks (I knew that didn't look right lol)

[bmathison1972]

Species: Ameerega silverstonei (Myers & Daly, 1979) (Silverstone's poison dart frog)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Papo
Series: Wild Animals
Year of Release: 2016
Size/Scale: Body length 4.0 cm, within the scale 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique to very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Papo used this same sculpt to represent a few species of Dendrobatidae.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Cordillera Azul, Peru
Habitat: Leaf litter in tropical and subtropical moist montane forests
Diet: Insects and other small invertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Endangered
Miscellaneous Notes: Skin secretions of A. silverstonei contain small amounts of pumiliotoxin-A alkaloids to help defend against predation, but because this species lacks the more toxic batrachotoxin alkaloids, it is not as poisonous as other poison dart frogs.

[stargatedalek]

Looking awesome! I love the presentation you've gone for, and those 3D scenery stands are always incredible.

[bmathison1972]

Looking awesome! I love the presentation you've gone for, and those 3D scenery stands are always incredible.

Thanks stars!!!!

[Nimravus]

Blaine, thanks for sharing. I really enjoy following  this thread!

[Isidro]

It belongs to Dendrobates pumilio species?

[bmathison1972]

It belongs to Dendrobates pumilio species?

Nope, not with the black ending before the top of the head in combination with entirely red front legs

Blaine, thanks for sharing. I really enjoy following  this thread!

Thanks Nimravus, glad you are enjoying it.

[Halichoeres]

When my cousin was a baby, our house had an infestation of these. They were everywhere, hundreds of them. The things that happen when you build a house at the edge of town in a desert.

Are you sure it was this species? Usually houses get infested with Centroides (the really poisonous ones in AZ).

You know, I guess I'm not. I remember them being really large, but also I was 5 years old and everything seemed large. So you're probably right that it was Centruroides, which of course is a bigger concern with an infant in the house (plus 6 other children under 10 years of age).

[Isidro]

I guess there must be another criteria for separating the species? besides the colors, given than D. pumilio can be as variable as shown here:



P. S. maybe I didn't make the question well understandable, I'm not asking if the figure belongs to D. pumilio instead D. silvestonei, but rather if the species? silverstonei belongs or not to Dendrobates pumilio species from a scientific taxonomy point of view (so, not under modern taxonomy point of view). I ask this because the species sounds unfamiliar to me and the figure looks like very much D. pumilio.

[bmathison1972]

Being in a different genus, there must be some justification, but I am not familiar with the nuances of dendrobatid phylogeny. I doubt color alone is sufficient to make such an assumption.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Takifugu rubripes (Temminck & Schlegel, 1850) (tiger puffer)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Colorata
Series: Salt Water Fish
Year of Release: 2015 (2006)
Size/Scale: Height of disply 7.0 cm. Body length of animal 5.0 cm, scale roughly 1:8-1:16
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique to very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure comes with a habitat-style base to which it attaches with an acrylic rod; the figure is removable from the base. The acrylic rod can be cut to the desired height the collector wants to display it at. Colorata released this set more than once; mine came out in 2015 but the first release of this figure was 2006.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Northwest Pacific in the Sea of Japan, East China Sea, and Yellow Sea
Habitat: Demersal zone, returning to estuaries to spawn
Diet: Algae, mollusks, and other invertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Near Threatened
Miscellaneous Notes: A prized fish food in Japan. However, the preparer of the fish must be careful, for while the flesh of the fish is not poisonous to humans, the liver, ovaries, and intestine are!

[JimoAi]

Species: Takifugu rubripes (tiger puffer)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Colorata
Series: Salt Water Fish
Year of Release: 2015
Size/Scale: Height of disply 7.0 cm. Body length of animal 5.0 cm, within scale 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique to very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure comes with a habitat-style base to which it attaches with an acrylic rod; the figure is removable from the base. The acrylic rod can be cut to the desired height the collector wants to display it at.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Northwest Pacific in the Sea of Japan, East China Sea, and Yellow Sea
Habitat: Demersal zone, returining to estuaries to spawn
Diet: Algae, mollusks, and other invertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Near Threatened
Miscellaneous Notes: A prized fish food in Japan. However, the preparer of the fish must be careful, for while the flesh of the fish is not poisonous to humans, the liver, ovaries, and intestine are!

Tiger puffers grow to 70cm long

[bmathison1972]

Species: Takifugu rubripes (tiger puffer)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Colorata
Series: Salt Water Fish
Year of Release: 2015
Size/Scale: Height of disply 7.0 cm. Body length of animal 5.0 cm, within scale 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique to very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure comes with a habitat-style base to which it attaches with an acrylic rod; the figure is removable from the base. The acrylic rod can be cut to the desired height the collector wants to display it at.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Northwest Pacific in the Sea of Japan, East China Sea, and Yellow Sea
Habitat: Demersal zone, returining to estuaries to spawn
Diet: Algae, mollusks, and other invertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Near Threatened
Miscellaneous Notes: A prized fish food in Japan. However, the preparer of the fish must be careful, for while the flesh of the fish is not poisonous to humans, the liver, ovaries, and intestine are!

Tiger puffers grow to 70cm long

Oh crap, I was calculating based on 5, not 50 cm - LOL. Thanks @JimoAi - I will correct it!