# Where to get realistic bugs



## ondeko (Oct 14, 2008)

Depending on how good you art skills are you can make what you want. The hawk moth should be easy enough to make. You can even download a decent photo, print it out life size, cut it out then glue the body over a bead/chunk of dowel/lump of paper mache/whatever.


----------



## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

Here's one fr $65 with only $8.95 shipping

http://www.bugunderglass.com/shop/framed-moth-displays/framed-acherontia-styx.html

I would also think that it'd be easy to make one.


----------



## SPOOKMART (Dec 27, 2012)

I was just going to recommend a bug then I saw the moth...WOW! I'm gonna cross breed them with Playboy bunnies and take over the world  Problem with realism is you get what you paid for...unless you can find one. Perhaps a site like Etsy has a lead? I know it's for crafts but maybe someone has some eggs? Eggs? Why not? lol Since they killed the honeybees here millers or white moths do all the pollinating. A moth looking like he was fresh out of a biker film can't be any worse. The other bug I was going to say is the cicada. After they die in the summer their eco skeletons/shell can be found on the sides of trees or up in trees. It's very creepy and usually about the largest insect a person can find not living in the tropics.


----------



## Stringy_Jack (Oct 28, 2011)

ondeko said:


> Depending on how good you art skills are you can make what you want. The hawk moth should be easy enough to make. You can even download a decent photo, print it out life size, cut it out then glue the body over a bead/chunk of dowel/lump of paper mache/whatever.


You're right ondeko this may be my best bet, thanks for the advice. RCIAG, I love it but don't want to pay those kind of prices. SPOOKMART. I may have to keep an eye out around my area, I know we have spider, praying mantis and the like around here.

I just can believe there is no place to get highly realistic bugs...


----------



## SPOOKMART (Dec 27, 2012)

People breed bugs for a living. I can't get over those moths. Familiarize yourself with the lingo and you will find sources. However people who do collect bugs for sale are going to want the most money they can get. Check ebay auctions that are ending too. You might find something cheap. Thriftstores could have an old bug collection too, you never know.


----------



## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

I guess I'm not clear on the purpose of these boxes. Is this something to display for a carnival sideshow for example? Do you want real preserved insects or are you thinking of modifying toy models? 

If the later, there are some nice pretty realistic spiders and insects I've seen in some toy/hobby stores. If you have the patience you can glue on fine hairs to make spiders look hairy, much like you would add facial hair for a makeup job. Magnifier and good tweezers might be nice to have. There are some cool irridescent paints you would use to up the look.

I have even found some decent looking plastic candy-filled bugs in the candy section of places like Dollar Tree and Walgreens. I have an insect that was a liquid candy-filled firefly that I held onto, plastic body and nice detailing, that I emptied the sugar goo out of and will use to "real-ify". Might glue on lots of small blackish beads for the compound eyes and paint the body. The liquid candy underbelly compartment I'd love to add an LED light of some sort and a slow flashing mechanism. Plan to do a similar thing to some large plastic flies. I know I've seen an irridescent green-blue paint that would look cool for the colorful body part. Some of the toy bug wings would look cool painted with irridescent paints as well. Toy frogs could be painted to be poisonous frogs that if you have seen photos of them are such vibrant colors. Lots of patience though, good eyes or good magnifier and a steady hand needed but a fun project you can pick up and do whenever you have the time.


----------



## ondeko (Oct 14, 2008)

Stringy_Jack said:


> I just can believe there is no place to get highly realistic bugs...


There really isn't much of a market for highly realistic fake bugs. Collectors generally want real specimens in perfect shape or they are willing to pay high prices for high quality often one of a kind work. There isn't any incentive for mass producers to make cheap bugs more realistic since most of there target market doesn't care. You might be able to get imperfect or damaged specimens of real bugs for less than perfect specimens.


----------



## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

ondeko said:


> There really isn't much of a market for highly realistic fake bugs. Collectors generally want real specimens in perfect shape or they are willing to pay high prices for high quality often one of a kind work. There isn't any incentive for mass producers to make cheap bugs more realistic since most of there target market doesn't care. You might be able to get imperfect or damaged specimens of real bugs for less than perfect specimens.


This makes sense. If you like & collect bugs you don't want fakes or damaged specimens. I did see on some site that, like ondeko says, you could get less than perfect ones for less. 

Fake bugs only need to look enough like something to do their job so anyone really into them wouldn't bother with them.

I still think you could alter another moth or just create one yourself.


----------



## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

USToy.com
They are a toy store, but they specialize in educational, art, science and imagination-inspiring toys. I just pulled up quite a few cool looking sets of bugs that look pretty realistic and were pretty cheap. Free shipping as well. 

I have an actual brick and mortar store in my area, so I usually just go check them out, but I'm pretty sure their website is safe (tho I have not ordered from them). 

http://www.ustoy.com/assorted-insects-1
http://www.ustoy.com/toy-insects-4
http://www.ustoy.com/cockroaches-72-pcs


orientaltrading.com
They have some similar on the selection, there's just lots more cutesy stuff too...

http://www.orientaltrading.com/just-buggy-bugs-and-spiders-a2-58_7-12-1.fltr?Ntt=insect
http://www.orientaltrading.com/scary-spiders-a2-39_8-12-1.fltr?Ntt=insect 


and there's always Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Fake-Roaches-Prank-Novelty-Cockroach/dp/B004ZPENP4
http://www.amazon.com/Safari-Hidden...&qid=1366488354&sr=8-1&keywords=fake+scorpion
http://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Kingdom-Insects-Black-Spider/dp/B000NDO7AI/ref=pd_sim_t_2

Now none of these is totally realistic, but with a bit of paint, they could look MUCH better. 

The death's head moth would be much harder. There doesn't seem to be any toy/fake versions that I could find easily (which is strange considering the Silence of the Lambs connection). I think in this case, if you are even remotely creative, this would be something to attempt to make... I've seen some pretty good resolution photos of them, and if you got a good quality color print of one, then carefully cut it out, and creased and folded the paper, you could create a paper version that could pass in a low light situation... http://www.etsy.com/listing/84081053/deaths-head-moth-postcard-set-set-of-4?ref=market
(I would use an exacto knife to cut it out carefully, then cut the wings apart (upper and lower) bend them slightly up where they join the body, and then crease the lower body from the upper, and gently round the lower body over something like a pencil or the like to get a more 3-D effect)


----------



## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

Oh, and I also had a visit from a Black Witch Moth a little while back... totally beautiful and has lots of interesting (and disturbing) myths surrounding it as well... also known as the "butterfly of death" - although how you'd come across one of these as well would be difficult. http://www.halloweenforum.com/off-topic-stuff/116219-black-witch-moth.html


----------



## murtisha (Aug 9, 2005)

http://www.filmflies.com/


----------



## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

murtisha said:


> http://www.filmflies.com/


Those are awesome! Expensive but aweseome!


----------



## Stringy_Jack (Oct 28, 2011)

Ghost of Spookie, I just found the shadow box and thought it would be cool to have a incest collect and have it hanging on the wall of my garage on Halloween night. I thought it would be easy to find some nice fake bugs to use but it ended-up being a little harder than I thought. I when to the mall today and was looking through some stuff at a toy store and like you said I may be able to find some nice one to use, thanks for your tips. 

ondeko, I understand what your saying but, I would have thought just the haunted attraction industry would have enough demand to have a few out there? I'll take your advice and look for some damaged/imperfect specimens, they would look great for a distressed collection. Thanks for your feedback.

Frankie's Girl, wow nice links, I have visited them yet but I will, thanks for you links, I'm sure I'll find something interesting. I'm also going to look into the butterfly of deart...sounds cool! 

Murtisha, love the spiders, going to get a few...thanks.


----------



## murtisha (Aug 9, 2005)

Where did you find prices on that site? I was looking but couldn't find anything.

Nevermind...I saw under contact info, $200 per housefly? Or am I reading that wrong?


----------



## ondeko (Oct 14, 2008)

murtisha--cool site. Apparently super expensive, but highly highly detailed. 

Stringy-Jack--Looking at the site that murtisha posted you get a good look at their bugs and can sort of reverse engineer them. The main problem with I see is keeping materials inexpensive. I was looking at a couple of them going "I know what to use for that" but it's a high end scrub grass used in railroad and wargaming miniatures. I have a 2 sq inch pad of the stuff and it was almost $10. It may come down to how much detail do you want.

Frankie's Girl--that hawk moth card is great and would make a good template for making your own specimens. 

I have a life size realistic fire ant made of glass. The guy who made it makes a lot of realistic bugs and spiders out of glass, but like the film flies they aren't cheap. It won't help S-Jack find cheap bugs, but here's a link to his etsy site so you can see his work. My fire ant was about 1/2 the price of the leaf cutter ants he has, but the leaf cutters are smaller and harder to make. He also does some whimsical stuff like a spider with a skull for an abdomen or unnaturally colored or size bugs.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/vetropod


----------

