Cardinal Beetle (Pyrochroa serraticornis)

Few British beetles make such an immediate impression as the Cardinal Beetle (Pyrochroa serraticornis), whose vivid scarlet wing cases flash like a warning flare against the bark and dead wood where it spends most of its life.

Cardinal Beetles are found in woodlands, hedgerows, and gardens, where adults are most visible in May and June. They are often seen resting on flowers, fence posts, and sunny surfaces near dead wood. The larvae develop under the bark of dead and decaying trees - oaks, beeches, and willows - where they are predators of other insect larvae. Adults are thought to feed on small insects, nectar, and pollen, and their bright red colouring may serve as a warning - some evidence suggests they can produce mildly distasteful compounds.

The red colouring that gives the Cardinal Beetle its name places it in a long tradition of associations between scarlet insects and religious or regal symbolism. The three British Pyrochroa species - distinguished mainly by head colour (red, black, or orange) - are among the most reliable indicators of dead-wood habitat, and their presence is a sign that a woodland or garden retains enough structural diversity to support a complex invertebrate community. They are beautiful, useful, and entirely harmless - a combination that should, by rights, make them more widely appreciated than they are.

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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