Bluebottle Fly (Calliphora vomitoria)

The Bluebottle (Calliphora vomitoria) is a far more handsome insect than its kitchen-pest reputation suggests. Beneath the nuisance lies a robust fly cloaked in dense metallic blue-violet - genuinely jewel-like, if only you could stop long enough to appreciate it before reaching for the swatter.

Bluebottles are among the most widespread and ecologically important flies in temperate regions. Adults are attracted to carrion, decaying organic matter, and open wounds, where females lay their eggs in tightly packed clusters. The larvae - maggots - develop rapidly, breaking down dead tissue with remarkable efficiency. This habit, while unappealing, makes bluebottles essential decomposers, and has led to their use in forensic entomology, where the age of maggots found on a body can help establish the time of death with considerable accuracy.

The Bluebottle's metallic colour is produced by structural interference in the cuticle rather than pigment, and the fly's compound eyes - a mosaic of thousands of individual lenses - are themselves objects of considerable optical sophistication. Few insects illustrate quite so well the gap between our aesthetic response to a creature and its actual biological interest. The Bluebottle is simultaneously one of the least popular and most ecologically essential insects in any temperate garden.

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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