Blaine's Bug of the Day

The virescent green metallic bee, Agapostemon virescens. This is, to my knowledge, the only figure of a sweat bee (family Halictidae).

One figure, by Play Visions (Bees, Wasps, and Hornets).

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A great model, - and look at the neat paintwork !!!

Desert scorpions in the genus, Hadrurus.

I. Arizona hairy scorpion, Hadrurus arizonensis.
One figure, a model kit by AMT/Ertl (Gigantics).

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II. Desert scorpions, Hadrurus spp..
Two figures, both by Safari LTD (and both probably modeled after H. arizonensis, above).
1. Desert TOOB
2. Hidden Kingdom Insects

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The giant deep-sea ostracod, Gigantocypris agassizii.

Two figures, both by Ikimon - Nature Techni Colour (Deep Sea Creatures, 1 and 2). These two figures, both new this year from 2017, are to my knowledge the only figures of Ostracoda! However, I think the prototype set for Safari LTD's Deep Sea TOOB contained this species; early images of the figures in the tube showed a round orange object, reminiscent of Gigantocypris. Whatever it was, it did not make it to the final product. The orange figure was in the first set, followed up by the clear figure in the second set.

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The Madagascan sunset moth, Chrysiridia rhipheus.

One figure, a magnet by Doug Walpus Art Studio. I am surprised this species has not been represented previously in toy/model form.

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The roseate emperor, Eochroa trimenii.

One figure, a magnet by Doug Walpus Art Studio.

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OK...one last one for now! This time, a plasterer bee in the genus Colletes.

One figure, by Play Visions (Bees, Wasps, and Hornets). With nearly 100 species in North America alone, I am not comfortable putting a species name on this figure. Still, it is probably the only member of the family Colletidae in toy/figure form.

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Interesting figurines again :)

The silver-bordered fritillary, Boloria selene.

One figure, by K&M International (Butterfly Nature Tube). This figure has been an 'unidentified' figure for years until a recent suggestion of B. selene was made by a forum member.

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Nice butterfly

I am not quoting any of your several posts referring to Sega figures. Mainly Lucanids but I am quite curious about them. Is there any chance that you open a topic telling us about these Sega series. I'd love to know how they are grouped, their sizes, material, scale, etc. I am even interested in getting one of these stag beetles if they are not fragile neither rare.

Roger wrote:

I am not quoting any of your several posts referring to Sega figures. Mainly Lucanids but I am quite curious about them. Is there any chance that you open a topic telling us about these Sega series. I'd love to know how they are grouped, their sizes, material, scale, etc. I am even interested in getting one of these stag beetles if they are not fragile neither rare.

Hi Roger

Funny you should ask. I am actually now organizing some of my Sega sets. Sega did MANY different sets of scarabaeoid beetles. Some small some big; some single piece, some articulated. Unfortunately, most of my sets are still incomplete. I am putting together a couple reviews now. The biggest set is their standard set of small figures, which is roughly 75 species (all Lucanidae and Dynastinae) but the large DX figures are some of the most accurate. Some sets have magnets. Some have the wings flying.

'BeetleGuy' on the ATF is probably the forums' leading authority on Sega figures. He and I are working on collaborations, so to speak. Beetle Guy is sending me a bunch this week actually!

As I complete sets I will start to post them...

bmathison1972 wrote:

Roger wrote:

I am not quoting any of your several posts referring to Sega figures. Mainly Lucanids but I am quite curious about them. Is there any chance that you open a topic telling us about these Sega series. I'd love to know how they are grouped, their sizes, material, scale, etc. I am even interested in getting one of these stag beetles if they are not fragile neither rare.

Hi Roger

Funny you should ask. I am actually now organizing some of my Sega sets. Sega did MANY different sets of scarabaeoid beetles. Some small some big; some single piece, some articulated. Unfortunately, most of my sets are still incomplete. I am putting together a couple reviews now. The biggest set is their standard set of small figures, which is roughly 75 species (all Lucanidae and Dynastinae) but the large DX figures are some of the most accurate. Some sets have magnets. Some have the wings flying.

'BeetleGuy' on the ATF is probably the forums' leading authority on Sega figures. He and I are working on collaborations, so to speak. Beetle Guy is sending me a bunch this week actually!

As I complete sets I will start to post them...

I am glad you are working on these. A series of 75 species from only two families is something quite impressive, unusual and surely educational. It means also that Sega will give me a lot of work on TAI.
I am looking forward to see how these series are grouped and their content.
I am checking BeeetleGuy posts on ATF and he really entered a lot of information about these but still very dispersed. I am glad that he is helping you to get these for your collection.

Roger wrote:

bmathison1972 wrote:

Roger wrote:

I am not quoting any of your several posts referring to Sega figures. Mainly Lucanids but I am quite curious about them. Is there any chance that you open a topic telling us about these Sega series. I'd love to know how they are grouped, their sizes, material, scale, etc. I am even interested in getting one of these stag beetles if they are not fragile neither rare.

Hi Roger

Funny you should ask. I am actually now organizing some of my Sega sets. Sega did MANY different sets of scarabaeoid beetles. Some small some big; some single piece, some articulated. Unfortunately, most of my sets are still incomplete. I am putting together a couple reviews now. The biggest set is their standard set of small figures, which is roughly 75 species (all Lucanidae and Dynastinae) but the large DX figures are some of the most accurate. Some sets have magnets. Some have the wings flying.

'BeetleGuy' on the ATF is probably the forums' leading authority on Sega figures. He and I are working on collaborations, so to speak. Beetle Guy is sending me a bunch this week actually!

As I complete sets I will start to post them...

I am glad you are working on these. A series of 75 species from only two families is something quite impressive, unusual and surely educational. It means also that Sega will give me a lot of work on TAI.
I am looking forward to see how these series are grouped and their content.
I am checking BeeetleGuy posts on ATF and he really entered a lot of information about these but still very dispersed. I am glad that he is helping you to get these for your collection.

I think I will do an 'overview' of Sega series, what they have to offer, and with some examples. Most of my sets are not complete so it will not be a typical review. I'll start working on it when my next batch comes from Beetle Guy, so probably in a couple weeks...

Time to get this thread back on track and update with a few new genera and species. First up, the enigmatic prehistoric crustacean, Dithyrocaris (several of these today will be extinct taxa).
I have two figures, both variants of the same sculpt, by Paleocasts.

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Next the red wood ant, Formica rufa. Ants are common in bin sets but very rarely marketed below the family level. This single figure is a model kit by the French company Heller.

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The enigmatic extinct arthropod, Leanchoilia superlata.

I have two figures, one main figure and a smaller version, by Paleocasts.

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Nice again :)

moved to another place in the thread

Last one for the day, the Tully Monster, Tullimonstrum gregarium. I was at one point interested in this species, but then decided against it when it was considered a chordate related to lampreys. Apparently, at the time of this writing, it is now back among the invertebrates. Because of its enigmatic standing I will collect a couple figures that become available.

This first one was a 'freebie' given to me by Pat May (Paleocasts) when I ordered a bunch of arthropods from him.

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Thanks for all the photos and explanations!

bmathison1972 wrote:

So, another tentative ID. I cannot remember how I acquired this figure, but after some research I am calling it the larva of the hydrophilid beetle, Berosus sp.

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You got it from me, a few years back. I know it, because I had two, an orange one (this one) and a pink one that I kept for myself. We had a trade back then.

OK, spent the last week doing lots of updates to Bug of the Day. Initially, it was to update all the scarabaeboid beetles I have acquired since late April (and trust me, there has been a lot). I updated 18 genera, including new species in Oryctes and Hexarthirus, and a new subspecies in Eupatorus. I should be getting something from Brett in the near future, after which I'll update a few more.

However, since I was systematically going through the posts, I added a bunch of minor updates throughout the thread.

Revisiting the Red Admiral...

The red admiral, Vanessa atalanta (Linnaeus, 1758), occurs in temperate regions throughout much of the Holarctic, as well as Hawaii, New Zealand, and the Caribbean. Larvae have a broad host range, although the main host plants are nettles in the family Urticaceae. A familiar species, it is not commonly-made in toy/figure form, but has not been ignored.

Clockwise from top left:
1. Toy Major
2. Doug Walpus Art Studio [a magnet figurine]
3. Bullyland
4. Land and Sea Collectibles
5. Skillcraft (Insect Lab)

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