Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio demodocus)

The young caterpillars solve the problem of being small and edible by looking like something nothing wants to eat: a bird dropping, mottled brown and white. As they grow too large for the disguise to work they switch strategy entirely, turning bright green with large false eye-spots. Threatened, they evert a forked orange organ called an osmeterium and release a smell strong enough to change a predator's mind.

Adults are strong, fast fliers, common in gardens from the Cape to the Arabian Peninsula. They visit flowers for nectar and gather at damp ground to take up minerals, a habit known as puddling.

The caterpillars feed on plants in the citrus family, wild species and cultivated trees alike, which makes this both a familiar garden butterfly and an occasional orchard pest. It breeds through most of the year where conditions allow, with pupae that can wait out a dry or cool season.

A vector illustration of the citrus swallowtail 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 · 70 × 50 cm · 28 × 20 in

XLarge · 100 × 70 cm · 40 × 28 in

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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.

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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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