Life Cycles of Animals

A thread I always wanted to start, Life Cycles of various critters. Now, as you all probably know by now, I only have arthropod life cycles. But, I know there are others for dinosaurs, chickens, frogs, turtles, earthworms, and possibly others. Please share yours if you have them.

There are two kinds of life cycles shown here. One is where a complete life cycle was produced at once. The other is a 'Frankenstein' life cycle where I put it together using elements from different manufacturers/series. I only created Frankenstein cycles when I could put together a minimum of three life cycle elements.

Enjoy!

Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies)
The only dragonfly life cycle I am aware of (not including merely adult/nymph pairs) is this one by Tedco Toys:

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Mantodea (mantids)
This life cycle is by Insect Lore (there appears to be newly-hatched nymphs and parasitoids(?) on the egg case):

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Hemiptera (bugs and allies)
This is a Frankenstein life cycle for the cicada, Graphtopsaltria nigrofuscata. The basis is the molting process by Bandai, with two stages of nymphs produced by Kaiyodo:

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Coleoptera (beetles)

1. Life cycle of the mealworm, Tenebrio molitor by Insect Lore:

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2. various lady bug life cycles. From top to bottom: Insect Lore, Safari LTD, Tedco Toys:

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3. Stag beetles. The top is a Frankenstein cycle for Dorcus hopei with a larva and pupae by Kaiyodo and an adult by Kitan Club. On the bottom is a complete cycle by Safari LTD:

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4. hercules beetle, Dynastes hercules by Tedco Toys:

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Diptera (flies)
Surprisingly the only one is the mosquito life cycle by Safari LTD:

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Siponaptera (fleas)
Life cycle of Ctenocephalides sp. by Merial (probably as promotional material for veterinary products). I have kept them in their packaging to prevent the pieces from getting lost.

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Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths)
Not surprisingly, quite a few of these.

1. luna moth Actias luna by Safari LTD:

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2. silkworm moths, Bombyx mori. The top is a Frankenstein cycle with a larva and adult by Kaiyodo and a larva and pupa by Shineg. The bottom is by Insect Lore. [edited 10/14/2017]

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3. painted lady, Vanessa cardui by Insect Lore:

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4. monarch, Danaus plexippus by Safari LTD:

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5. paper kite, Idea leuconoe. This is a Frankenstein cycle with adult and pupa by Yujn and a recent larva by Kaiyodo (thank you, Kaiyodo!!!!)

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6. A couple generic butterflies. The top one is by Tedco Toys and is bizarre: the larva looks like a swallowtail but the adult looks like a monarch or similar nymphalid. The bottom one is a swallowtail by AAA. I believe they also did a Morpho life cycle I will have to hunt down (esp. if done accurately).

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Hymenoptera (bees, ants, wasps).

1. ants. Top is by Safari LTD; bottom by Insect Lore:

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2. honey bee, Apis mellifera. From top to bottom: Insect Lore, Safari LTD, Tedco Toys:

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Please share yours! Ideally there should be at least three different elements (not just pairings of adult and young...)

So many different models! Great!

I love lifecycles. It is a pity I am not collecting them. They're very educational and your collection, Frankenstein or not, is rather impressive!
I intend to get a moth or butterfly series when possible. I like these from Safari, but I only have the AAA lifecycle of a frog.

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I love life cycle models too, and your collection is great

Roger, I love your frog cycle

Those are really impressive I love their educational factor! If it wasn't for the lack of space, I'd love to collect them!

Roger wrote:

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I had no idea AAA made a life cycle as well Amazing!!

Tarunyada wrote:

Those are really impressive I love their educational factor! If it wasn't for the lack of space, I'd love to collect them!
I had no idea AAA made a life cycle as well Amazing!!

I have two of them, - it is so great to see the whole flock

SUSANNE wrote:

Tarunyada wrote:

Those are really impressive I love their educational factor! If it wasn't for the lack of space, I'd love to collect them!
I had no idea AAA made a life cycle as well Amazing!!

I have two of them, - it is so great to see the whole flock

Awesome! Now I'm wondering if AAA released more life cycles

Tarunyada wrote:

SUSANNE wrote:

Tarunyada wrote:

Those are really impressive I love their educational factor! If it wasn't for the lack of space, I'd love to collect them!
I had no idea AAA made a life cycle as well Amazing!!

I have two of them, - it is so great to see the whole flock

Awesome! Now I'm wondering if AAA released more life cycles

They had a few dinosaur life cycles with hatchlings, I believe.

This is so cool

Lovely collection

Here are my two lifecycles, Safari Ltd monarch butterfly and Insect Lore Painted Lady, respectively.

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My newest life cycle, that of the earthworm by Safari LTD:

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Great again :)

Very neat!
Hey, I have a thought. What if the Tedco generic butterfly is not a Monarch, but a Vice-Roi? Vice-Rois' caterpillars are green, a little similar to the Caterpillar next to the imago. What do you think? Just a thought, really.

Bowhead Whale wrote:

Very neat!
Hey, I have a thought. What if the Tedco generic butterfly is not a Monarch, but a Vice-Roi? Vice-Rois' caterpillars are green, a little similar to the Caterpillar next to the imago. What do you think? Just a thought, really.

While the viceroy larva has forked appendages, the presence of eyespots and an osmetrium are clearly characteristics of swallowtail larvae. This is definitely a swallowtail larva. The adult is a little more viceroy-like in many ways, but it lacks the black band across the hindwing.

The lifecycle are really fascinating and educational. I definitely learned something new just by watching the pictures.

The newest life cycle, the giant Asian hornet, by Epoch:

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bmathison1972 wrote:

Bowhead Whale wrote:

Very neat!
Hey, I have a thought. What if the Tedco generic butterfly is not a Monarch, but a Vice-Roi? Vice-Rois' caterpillars are green, a little similar to the Caterpillar next to the imago. What do you think? Just a thought, really.

While the viceroy larva has forked appendages, the presence of eyespots and an osmetrium are clearly characteristics of swallowtail larvae. This is definitely a swallowtail larva. The adult is a little more viceroy-like in many ways, but it lacks the black band across the hindwing.

Oh! I see.