Painted Lady Butterfly (Vanessa cardui)

No butterfly covers more ground. Successive generations of Painted Ladies travel from tropical Africa across the Sahara and deep into Europe, some reaching the Arctic Circle before the return south begins - a round trip that can approach 15,000 kilometres and takes more individuals than any one of them will ever know about.

They cross the desert at altitude, riding winds more than a kilometre above the ground, which is why the crossing went unnoticed for so long. The butterflies seen in a British summer were born in North Africa.

The species is present on every continent except Antarctica and South America, and its success comes from flexibility rather than specialism. Caterpillars feed mainly on thistles, adults on almost any nectar, and the whole population can expand into new ground within weeks of rain, sometimes producing swarms visible across several countries at once.

A vector illustration of the Painted Lady 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

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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