This Bug's For You

Growing up in Manila, we had fauna running all over our home at any given time of day, and we always just accepted the fact that we shared our space with them: flies, mosquitos, flying ants, cockroaches, all kinds of spiders, centipedes, and the lizards that preyed on them. In New York, the site of one tiny roach crawling on a counter can send homeowners into a screechfest. But here's one insect I'd actually go out and buy. Granted, it's a plastic one, but that just means I don't need to feed it or shoo it away from my dinner plates.

4D Vision's got a whole slew of quirky creatures in its series of models that allow you to see into the animal's internal organs (shades of the Visible Man and Woman of my youth in the 70s and 80s), but their latest specimen transcends the toy genre and moves into the realm of artistic objet d'art. The Hercules Beetle has all the other-worldly looks of a prehistoric beast, and it's sure to charm the kid in you who loved a monster flick or two. But it's also got quirky decorating possibilities with biomorphic shape, vivid jewel-like colors and translucent, amber wings. I saw it at the New York Gift Fair today and distributor Kikkerland had it mounted on the wall like a trophy (see pic above), which is exactly how I'd want to show it in my own home. It retails anywhere from $35 to $50 depending on the website you order it from, so I suggest you google around a bit to find the best deal from the e-tailer you feel most comfy with. But this is one insect I wouldn't mind seeing on my apartment wall.