Assassin Bug (Triatoma infestans)

It bites sleeping people around the mouth and face, which is how it earned the name kissing bug. The infection does not come from the bite. Triatoma infestans defecates as it feeds, leaving the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi beside the wound, and the sleeper rubs it in when they scratch.

Chagas disease affects an estimated six to seven million people, mostly in rural Latin America. The insect lives in the fabric of the houses themselves, hiding by day in cracked walls, behind furniture and in thatch, emerging after dark to feed.

That makes it as much a housing problem as a medical one, and the response has reflected that: decades of insecticide programmes and building improvements have eliminated it from large parts of Brazil, Chile and Uruguay, though it holds on in Bolivia, Paraguay and northern Argentina. Few insects show so plainly how disease follows poverty, or how much sustained public health work can change.

A vector illustration of the assassin bug in dorsal view, drawn for the Bugs series of insect art prints.

Bugs is a collection of natural history illustration prints drawn from the insect world - beetles, flies, bugs, butterflies, and moths selected for the strangeness, beauty, and variety of their forms.

Each illustration is adapted from Simon Tyler's book Bugs, published by Pavilion in 2017 and subsequently published in French and Chinese. The series draws on the tradition of scientific natural history illustration - precise, considered, and attentive to the details that make each species distinctive.

Insects account for the majority of all known animal species on Earth. This collection is a small survey of what that diversity looks like.

All prints are produced to order on 250gsm archival matte paper using pigment-based inks, chosen for colour accuracy and long-term stability.

Each print is rolled in acid-free tissue and shipped in a rigid cardboard tube, sealed for moisture protection, ready for framing on arrival.

Large · 50 × 70 cm · 20 × 28 in

XLarge · 70 × 100 cm · 28 × 40 in

UK: Free · 3-5 working days

Europe: €8.50 · 3-7 working days · No customs charges

USA & Canada: $8.95 / $12.00 CAD · 5-10 working days

Australia: $14.00 AUD · 5-10 working days

Rest of World: £14.95 · 7-14 working days

All prints are produced to order and dispatched within 1-3 working days. Orders placed before 5pm GMT ship the same day. You'll receive tracking information by email once dispatched.

Orders outside Europe may be subject to local customs charges on delivery - these are the responsibility of the recipient.

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Returns accepted within 30 days. Email returns@axisophy.com with your order number and we'll provide return instructions.

Return postage is the customer's responsibility except where the print arrives damaged or there's been an error - in which case we'll arrange a replacement or refund immediately, no return needed.

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