Mathison Museum of Natural History

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.

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wonderful picture!

Many thanks for this combination of great photos with so much informations.

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, 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!

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Such interesting info and great figure!

Thanks for the identification of the scorpion and the Papo frog. I never realised, that it´s the only figure of this species. So I have to search this Papo!

A wonderful fish

.. and a very beautiful display!

Yes, I am admiring the backgrounds and scenery in this topic as much as the animal figures!

Species: Armadillidium vulgare (Latreille, 1804) (common pillbug)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Bandai
Series: Dango Mushi 01 and 05
Years of Release: 2018 (01) and 2019 (05)
Size/Scale: Unrolled, figure 14.0 cm for a scale of 7.5:1 for a large specimen
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon (but becoming more common)
Miscellaneous Notes: There is no assembly, but obviously substantial articulation, to allow the figures to be unrolled and rolled back up again. In fact, these gashapon figures serve as their own 'capsules' in Japanese vending machines! The unrolled lighter figure is the original concept from the first Dango Mushi collection in 2018. The darker, rolled figure is a variant that was released in 2019. Bandai has used this same sculpt to represent other species of pillbugs and other varieties of A. vulgare.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Nearly cosmopolitan
Habitat: Forests, fields, gardens, and disturbed areas, usually in soil, leaf litter, or under rocks and logs
Diet: Decaying vegetation
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Armadillidium vulgare is native to Europe but has been introduced to much of the world by human activity.

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Oh I recognise this thing!! Especially the way you've put it in the bits of wood- I've seen these in the garden but I always thought they were woodlice... I've seen so many of those round black balls!
I would actually love to have this in my collection, even though I am a dog collector, just because I do always like the bugs that I see in day to day life

Bonnie wrote:

Oh I recognise this thing!! Especially the way you've put it in the bits of wood- I've seen these in the garden but I always thought they were woodlice... I've seen so many of those round black balls!
I would actually love to have this in my collection, even though I am a dog collector, just because I do always like the bugs that I see in day to day life

Woodlice is another common English name, as is sowbug, rolley-poley, etc. etc. etc. Lots of regional variation. The term 'pillbug' is used primarily for those species that can roll into a ball (not all terrestrial isopods can).

Ohh I see, so it's lots of different names for the same species- and of course, that's why some of the species I called 'woodlice' could roll into a ball, when others couldn't! Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge!

I grew up with rollie-pollies as the name. They live everywhere here. Very nice models!

Saarlooswolfhound wrote:

I grew up with rollie-pollies as the name. They live everywhere here. Very nice models!

growing up in Phoenix, the kids called them 'potato bugs' but being a young biologist, I called them woodlice LOL

I heard pillbugs lol.

The woodlice I am familiar with look quite different, much flatter. In Dutch, they are called "pissebedden", which literally means pee beds. It's a strange name, so I had to look it up. According to the etymological dictionary that I consulted (etymologiebank.nl), they were named this way because they were considered to stimulate urination and used in a broth (yummy!) that was eaten to prevent bedwetting. Perhaps the fact that woodlice can often be found in humid environments contributed to this.

How interesting! I never knew that 'woodlice' could have so many different names...

Well, I can also talk about the Portuguese name. It is called “bicho-de-conta” what translates to bead bug what certainly refers to strings of beads, rosaries, chaplets or so. It is a very respected animal here, among populars and it is somewhat magical to us.

rogerpgvg wrote:

The woodlice I am familiar with look quite different, much flatter. In Dutch, they are called "pissebedden", which literally means pee beds. It's a strange name, so I had to look it up. According to the etymological dictionary that I consulted (etymologiebank.nl), they were named this way because they were considered to stimulate urination and used in a broth (yummy!) that was eaten to prevent bedwetting. Perhaps the fact that woodlice can often be found in humid environments contributed to this.

Among terrestrial isopods, the most common and familiar are the Porcellionidae (which are flatter and cannot roll into a ball) and the families Armadillidiidae and Armadillidae which can roll into balls.

Interesting discussions, but time to move on to what is next :)

Species: Cyclochila australasiae (Donovan, 1805) (green grocer cicada)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Cadbury
Series: Yowies Series 3
Year of Release: 1999
Size/Scale: Figure length 5.0 cm. Body length 4.0 cm, for a scale roughly 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Like all of original Australian Yowies, the figure is somewhat stylized and assembly is required. Still, the original Yowies are a great way to get unique figures of Australian species!

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Coastal southeastern Australia
Habitat: Forests and disturbed areas
Diet: Developing nymphs feed on plant roots; adults suck tree sap, including Eucalyptus.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Nymphs of C. australasiae remain underground for seven years.

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Great figure and unique species!