Butterfly Art Prints

Butterfly Art Prints

A butterfly wing is not decorative. It is a functional system - a species recognition signal, a predator deterrent, a thermal regulator, and in the most extraordinary cases an optical structure that manipulates light at the nanoscale. The fact that wings are also visually extraordinary is incidental to the butterfly. For us, it is the point of entry.

The Axisophy Bugs collection includes 15 butterfly and moth prints. Each is treated as scientific illustration: correct venation, accurate colour placement, proportions drawn from specimen reference. The emphasis is on what is actually there rather than a simplified or idealised version of it.

Here are the strongest butterfly prints in the collection.

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Bhutan Glory (Bhutanitis lidderdalii)

A swallowtail from the cloud forests of the Eastern Himalayas. CITES-listed. The wing pattern - dark bars and red-orange crescents against a translucent pale ground - reads like stained glass when backlit. Individual scale rows are visible at the print's larger size. It is an insect that very few people will ever see in person, and the print captures the geometric precision of its patterning at a scale where that geometry becomes apparent.

Madagascan Sunset Moth (Chrysiridia rhipheus)

Technically a moth, not a butterfly - a day-flying uraniid endemic to Madagascar. Its colours are produced entirely by structural interference in nanoscale wing scale structures, not pigmentation. Greens become blues, golds become magentas, depending on the viewing angle. The print captures the colour transitions with unusual fidelity.

  • Butterfly – Bhutan Glory (Bhutanitis lidderdalii) - natural history illustration - Bugs series art print
    Butterfly – Bhutan Glory (Bhutanitis lidderdalii)
    From £50.00 GBP
  • Moth – Madagascan Sunset Moth (Chrysiridia rhipheus) - natural history illustration - Bugs series art print
    Moth – Madagascan Sunset Moth (Chrysiridia rhipheus)
    From £50.00 GBP

Sylphina Angel (Chorinea sylphina)

A metalmark butterfly from the cloud forests of Peru and Bolivia with largely transparent wings and small patches of iridescent colour. The transparency is functional camouflage - the butterfly is almost invisible against dappled forest light. The print preserves this quality: an insect that seems to be barely there.

Blue Morpho (Morpho menelaus)

The blue of a Morpho wing is produced not by pigment but by ridges on the wing scales spaced at intervals that interfere constructively with blue wavelengths of light. The underside is plain brown - camouflage when the wings are folded. The contrast between the two surfaces is part of what makes the Blue Morpho one of the most studied examples of structural colour in nature.

  • Butterfly – Blue Morpho (Morpho menelaus) - natural history illustration - Bugs series art print
    Butterfly – Blue Morpho (Morpho menelaus)
    From £50.00 GBP
  • Butterfly - Sylphina Angel (Chorinea sylphina) - natural history illustration - Bugs series art print
    Butterfly - Sylphina Angel (Chorinea sylphina)
    From £50.00 GBP

Viceroy (Limenitis archippus)

Famous for its resemblance to the Monarch butterfly - a case study in Müllerian mimicry, where both species are unpalatable and share warning colours for mutual benefit. The orange and black pattern is bold and immediately recognisable.

  • Butterfly - Viceroy (Limenitis archippus) - natural history illustration - Bugs series art print
    Butterfly - Viceroy (Limenitis archippus)
    From £50.00 GBP

The full butterfly and moth range at axisophy.com/collections/bugs, where you can filter by Butterflies & Moths. All prints from £50, free UK delivery.

Bugs Collection

Simon Tyler is a designer, illustrator and author based in St Leonards-on-Sea. He is the author and illustrator of Bugs (Pavilion, 2017), Adventures in Space (Pavilion, 2018), Adventures on Earth (Pavilion, 2019) and Emergency Vehicles (Faber & Faber, 2020), and the illustrator of The World's Most Magnificent Machines (Faber & Faber, 2020). His forthcoming book Gizmo: Retro-Tech We Loved and Lost will be published by Laurence King in May 2026.