Mathison Museum of Natural History

Species: Leptuca crenulata (Lockington, 1877) (Mexican fiddler crab)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Play Visions
Series: Habitat Earth: Crabs
Year of Release: 1996
Size/Scale: Figure width 5.8 cm. Carapace length 1.5 cm, for a scale slightly larger than 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique (see below)
Miscellaneous Notes: This sculpt was also used by PEC in their crab collection (that is essentially a set of PV knockoffs) as well as by Battat.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Coastal southern California and Baja California, Mexico
Habitat: Intertidal zone of mud flats and salt marshes
Diet: Filamentous algae, microbes, detritus
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Like other fiddler crabs, L. crenulata digs burrows in the upper reaches of mud flats and salt marshes; the burrows can be up to 0.5 meters deep in the substrate. Another indicator of fiddler crab activity are little mud balls left behind after extracting food from sediment.

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Cool crab

yes.. but a little assymetric! cool display too!

Mexican fiddler crab ? I didn't know the description was so precise. Until now it was referred to as a generic "Fiddler crab" on TAW. Do you confirm that we can open a new page for this species?

Kikimalou wrote:

Mexican fiddler crab ? I didn't know the description was so precise. Until now it was referred to as a generic "Fiddler crab" on TAW. Do you confirm that we can open a new page for this species?

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] - you might have missed the discussion on the other thread. This figure is specifically marked 'Mexican fiddler crab' as is the one owned by NMR_Okapi. I never noticed it before, I think because the 'Mexican' runs up the side of the big claw arm and it's not as easy to see when looking directly from below.

Ok, thank you Blaine, indeed I missed the discussion. I'm always happy when a model is no more generic

Species: Cybister chinensis Motschulsky, 1854 (giant Asian diving beetle)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: F-toys
Series: Creatures of the Waterside
Year of Release: 2008
Size/Scale: Body length 3.8 cm, within scale 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: This is our second look at C. chinensis in the Museum. This species is usually marketed as C. japonicus, which is now considered a synonym of C. chinensis. The figure is removable from its base.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: East Asia, Japan
Habitat: Freshwater, including lakes, ponds, ditches, canals, rice paddies
Diet: Predaceous on freshwater insects, microcrustaceans, tadpoles, small fish
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: The males of many large dytiscids, including C. chinensis, have specialized front tarsi; the tarsal segments are modified into large suction cups that are used to hold the female during underwater mating. This feature can be seen on today's figure, as well as the two by Kaiyodo.

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Species: Lucilia sp. (blow fly; greenbottle fly)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: K&M International
Series: Insects Polyvinyl Bag
Year of Release: unknown
Size/Scale: Body length 8.0 cm, for a scale of 17.1:1-8:1 [specific scale species dependent]
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare [genus-level]
Miscellaneous Notes: The genus-level identification is my own, based on color and wing venation; the wing venation is actually pretty darn accurate for a member of the family Calliphoridae (at least on its right side)!

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Cosmopolitan
Habitat: Highly variable, but common in forests, fields, parks, gardens, disturbed areas, human habitations
Diet: Most larvae feed on decaying organic material, such as carrion; some cause facultative or obligatory myiasis on humans and other animals. Adults typically taken pollen or nectar from flowers.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A
Miscellaneous Notes: Lucilia is one of the most common causes of facultative myiasis (infestation of the human body with fly larvae), usually seen in untreated wounds of the skin and soft tissues. Lucilia larvae that only feed on dead tissue are used for medical maggot therapy, whereby sterile, laboratory-raised larvae are used to debride dead tissue from people with non-healing foot lesions, burn victims, etc.

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I have that figure on the wreath on my front door lol. The mantis is in the plant next to the door.

As a PVC figure okay :)

Interesting but a little toony looking!

It's big- good for scaring people who come to the door!

Species: Prosopocoilus inclinatus (Motschulsky, 1857)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Yell
Series: Beetles on Wood
Year of Release: 2020
Size/Scale: Figure length 6.5 cm. Body length (excluding mandibles) 4.0 cm, within scale 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Common
Miscellaneous Notes: Today is our third look at this species in the Museum. Yell's 'Beetles on Wood' collection features many of the typical scarbaeoid species made by Japanese companies. The figures are sold in large slotted plastic balls (similar to cat toys) and come with a real piece of wood to display them with. It took it upon myself to use an adhesive to permanently affix the beetles to their piece of wood, making mini dioramas out of them.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Japan, Taiwan, Korean Peninsula
Habitat: Oak forests
Diet: Larvae breed in rotting logs of Quercus (oak); adults are attracted to sap flows.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Like many other scarabaeoid beetles, P. inclinatus has a long developmental cycle in the larval substrate. Development from egg to adult takes 1-2 years. Adults live only 3-4 months and cannot survive the winter.

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Species: Allomyrina dichotoma (Linnaeus, 1771) (Japanese rhinoceros beetle)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Capsule Q Museum - Insects Gather to Sap, Night Feast of Midsummer
Year of Release: 2015
Size/Scale: Body length (including horn) 4.7 cm, which is within scale 1:1 for a minor male. Given the length of the horn in this figure, more realistically it is 1:1.7 for a major male.
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very common
Miscellaneous Notes: Allomyrina dichotoma is the most-represented species in my collection, and this is the third time we've seen it in the Museum. The figure does not require assembly and has a small, non-obtrusive magnet on the underside (as do all the figures in this particular collection).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southeast Asia, including China, Korea, Taiwan, and Japan
Habitat: Tropical and subtropical hardwood forests
Diet: Larvae feed on organic detritus in soil; adults are attracted to sap flows
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Allomyrina dichotoma appears to be the influence for the kaiju Megalon from the 1973 Toho film, Godzilla vs. Megalon.

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Amazingly realistic- if I were a collector of bugs I would definitely focus mainly on the Japanese brands!

Bonnie wrote:

Amazingly realistic- if I were a collector of bugs I would definitely focus mainly on the Japanese brands!

Absolutly my opinion :)

Species: Micrurus fulvius (Linnaeus, 1766) (eastern coral snake)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Capsule Q Museum - Toxic and Dangerous Animals
Year of Release: 2014
Size/Scale: Figure length 15.0 cm. Measured along spine 24.5 cm for a scale of 1:1.8-1:3.2 on average (1:5.2 for a maximum-sized specimen)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure is softer than Kaiyodo figures typically are, in many ways reminiscent of the snake figures by Club Earth and Wing Mau.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southern Coastal Plain of the southeastern United States
Habitat: Scrub forests, flatwoods, hammocks, sand ridges; usually in drier areas that are open or shrubby
Diet: Snakes (including its own species), lizards, birds, frogs, fish, invertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: The venom of M. fulvius contains neurotoxin, resulting in rapid paralysis and respiratory failure in prey; bites to humans are rarely fatal, however. In North America (at least) venomous coral snakes can be differentiated from non-venomous king snakes with a similar color pattern by the rhyme, red touch yellow, kill a fellow; red touch black, friend of Jack.

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Nice snake

Species: Ornithoptera priamus (Linnaeus, 1758) (common green birdwing)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: K&M International
Series: Butterflies Nature Tube
Year of Release: unknown
Size/Scale: Wingspan 6.0 cm, for a scale of approximately 1:2.1-1:2.6
Frequency of species in toy/figure (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: The K&M Butterflies Nature Tube figures were not marketed at the species level, however most of them appear to be painted after actual species. All of the identifications are mine or by other members of the ATF and STS forums. Today's figure is believed to represent the blue morph of the male O. priamus. Several of the sculpts (and in some cases paint style) were also used by some of the earlier Safari Ltd. sets and Insect Lore.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Northeastern Australia, Moluccas, New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago, Solomon Islands
Habitat: Rainforests
Diet: Larvae feed on plants in the genus Aristolochia (birtwirth); adults take nectar from flowers
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Like other birdwings, O. priamus is sexually dimorphic. Females are slightly larger and dark brown with white maculae; only the males have the green to blue coloring.

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The Kaiyodo Allomyrina d. looks more realistic than the Yell Prosocopoilus i. because of its thiner legs..
Thank you for little poem that could save lives avoiding fatal bits of coral snake! :)

Very good display and instructive comments as usually!

Thanks Caracal.

Next up:

Species: Nemateleotris magnifica Fowler, 1938 (fire goby)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Yujin
Series: Saltwater Fish Pictorial Book 1
Year of Release: 2004
Size/Scale: Figure height 5.0 cm. Measured along midline, body length 4.7 cm for a scale of approximately 1:2 for a maximum-sized specimen
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: The figure is attached to a habitat-style base by a small acrylic rod, from which it is removeable.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Indo-Pacific
Habitat: Coral reefs, usually at depths of 6-70 meters
Diet: Marine invertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Because of its easy maintenance and peaceful disposition, N. magnifica is popular in the aquarium trade. They are reef compatible and coexist well with other non-aggressive fish species.

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