Mathison Museum of Natural History

Great Sega model!

Species: Holconia immanis (Koch, 1867) (giant Sydney huntsman spider)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Science & Nature
Series: Animals of Australia
Year of Release: unknown
Size/Scale: Figure legspan 10.2 cm. Body length 4.0 cm, within scale 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Such a fantastic model of a unique species; however, like so many spider figures it suffers from an incorrect number and arrangement of eyes (and given the size of the figure and the eye arrangement in sparassids, it should not have been difficult to capture properly here...).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Eastern Australia
Habitat: Open forest, disturbed areas, buildings and houses
Diet: Insects and other arthropods
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: A nocturnal hunter, H. immanis can walk vertically on walls and glass, and even upside-down on ceilings. It can deliver a painful bite if aggravated, but it is not venomous to people.

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Nice spider

beautiful model!

Species: Zootermopsis angusticollis (Hagen, 1858) (Pacific dampwood termite)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Club Earth
Series: Ants and Termites
Year of Release: unknown
Size/Scale: Body length (including mandibles) 5.5 cm for a scale of 2.75:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Termites are very rare in toy form and not usually identified to the species level. The figures in Club Earth's Ants and Termites collection are stamped with the common English name on the underside (as are most CE figures). This figure is stamped 'Pacific Coast termite' and is most-certainly intended to represent the Pacific dampwood termite, Zootermopsis angusticollis.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: West Coast of North America, from British Columbia to Baja California
Habitat: Forests, disturbed areas, buildings and houses; will nest in most any wood type, including fallen trees and timber, especially those in contact with soil, and is tolerant of damp wood.
Diet: Rotten wood (aided by symbiotic protozoans and bacteria); will also cannibalize injured members of their own colony or members of rival colonies within the same substrate.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: While they prefer dead, rotting fallen trees, Z. angusticollis will attack lumber and homes, especially if the wood is rotting due to water damage. Zootermopsis angusticollis can spread wood decay fungi by carrying fungal spores to new sites.

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Very beautiful dispaly for this unique model!

A raretie

Species: Lamprima adolphinae (Gestro, 1875) (green stag beetle)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: F-toys
Series: Encyclopedia of Insects Vol. 3
Year of Release: 2008, 2009
Size/Scale: Male: body length (including mandibles) 4.0 cm. Female: body length (including mandibles) 2.8 cm. Both within scale 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: This is our second look at L. adolphinae in the Museum. The two males were part of the main set released in 2008. However, the three females were special 'chase' figures released a year later (2009). The females were only sold by phone in Japan. If you purchased the main set, there was a phone number on the box. You called the number and ordered the set over the phone, and then they would be shipped to you. I think there was a limited number of sets (200? Beetle guy can correct me if I am wrong). Figures in this set have become quite rare, the females particularly so!

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: New Guinea
Habitat: Montane rainforests
Diet: Larvae feed in rotting wood of several plants infested with fungi (white rot); adults adults feed on fruit and sap flows.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: This species is very popular with collectors and breeders, but appears to have a thriving population in nature and does not seem to be negatively affected by collecting. Despite their popularity, little is known about their natural biology.

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Very beautiful species

the 2 males look rather different..

Species: Erythrura gouldiae (Gould, 1844) (Gouldian finch; rainbow finch; Lady Gouldian finch)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Furuta
Series: Chocoegg Pet Series 2
Year of Release: 2001
Size/Scale: Figure 4.5 cm tall. Body length 7.0 cm for a scale of 1:2-1:1.8
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Being one of the earlier Chocoegg figures, some assembly is required. Furuta released at least two color variants of this sculpt, and Safari Ltd. released this species in their Incredible Creatures line.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Northeastern Australia
Habitat: Grassy open woodlands
Diet: Grass seeds
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Near Threatened
Miscellaneous Notes: Before Australia banned exportation of its wildlife, E. gouldiae was a popular wild-caught pet and zoo animal. The last wild licensed trapping of the Gouldian finch was in the early 1980s. They are still popular pets, but are currently captive-bred rather than wild-caught.

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A beatieful bird. But a little bit to much puzzle

I agree.. but few choice it seems.. howether, beautuful species and display!

A really beautiful bird! Those stag beatles are all pretty colors too. 

Species: Dorcus titanus sakishimanus (Nomura, 1964)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: F-toys
Series: Insect Hunter Beetle and Stag Beetle
Years of Release: 2013 and 2018
Size/Scale: Body length (including mandibles) 7.0 cm, within scale 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare (unique as a sculpt)
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the first time we have seen the genus Dorcus in the Museum, which is somewhat surprising considering I have 58 figures representing 15 species and subspecies. The two figures today are variants on the same sculpt, released five years apart. The figure on the left with the yellow anterior margin of the pronotum is from 2013; the one on the right is from 2018. The mandibles are slightly articulated.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Sakishima Islands, Japan
Habitat: Temperate forests
Diet: Larvae develop in rotting wood; adults feed on tree sap
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Depending on the taxonomy applied there can be upwards of 24 subspecies of Dorcus titanus, distributed throughout Southeast Asia (I have figures of five of them). The subspecies D. t. sakishimanus is endemic to the Sakishima Archipelago in Japan.

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Nice figures. 
They make me curious about an animal-gruop, that I only know a little about.
It seems like a big kind of beetle, as the figures are in scale 1:1.

Nice figures again

Soooo beautiful and unbelievably realistic!!

Species: Mesotopus tarandus (Swederus, 1787)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: F-toys
Series: Encyclopedia of Insects Vol. 3
Year of Release: 2008
Size/Scale: Body length (including mandibles) 6.0 cm, within scale 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Common
Miscellaneous Notes: The first species to appear in the Museum for a third time (and interestingly our third F-toys post in four days)! This is also one of the most realistic exemplars of the species.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Equatorial West Africa, including Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Ghana
Habitat: Rainforests
Diet: Larvae breed in rotting logs colonized by very specific fungi; adult feeding habits not well-documented but probably attracted to sap flows.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Commonly called the 'African Demon', M. tarandus is one of the largest stag beetles in Africa. That is probably why it is the only African species routinely made by Japanese companies.

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Species: Semibalanus cariosus (Pallas, 1788) (thatched barnacle)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kitan Club
Series: Nature Techni Colour - Barnacles
Year of Release: 2012
Size/Scale: Small figure 1.5 cm in diameter. Larger figure 2.3 cm in diameter. Both figures could be 1:1 for small specimens; large figure 1:2.5 for a large specimen.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique [as a pair]
Miscellaneous Notes: Most of the figures in the Barnacles collection were magnets, strap figures, or pins. These two have non-obtrusive magnets on the underside.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: North Pacific, from Japan to the Bering Sea, to Baja California
Habitat: Intertidal and subtidal zones, usually attached to rocks, pilings, and other man-made structures.
Diet: Plankton and detritus that drift within reach
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Semibalanus cariosus can grow individually or in large colonies. When colonies get dense, which is common in populations in the Pacific Northwest, the barnacles tend to grow tall and narrow, and their characteristic thatched appearance becomes less obvious.

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Just fantastic- barnacles!!
Not the first thing that comes to find when you think of animals, so wonderful that KC made some!

very beautiful picture for these unique models!