Colorado Potato Beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata)

The Colorado Potato Beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) looks almost deliberately designed - bold black-and-yellow striped wing cases, a neatly spotted orange thorax, and a clean graphic quality that belies its status as one of the most economically destructive insects in the world.

The Colorado Potato Beetle is native to the Rocky Mountain region of North America, where it originally fed on wild members of the nightshade family. When potato cultivation spread westward in the mid-19th century, the beetle switched hosts with devastating efficiency. By the 1870s it had reached the Atlantic coast, and within decades it had crossed the ocean to Europe. Today it is found across much of the Northern Hemisphere and remains one of the most damaging pests of potato crops worldwide.

The beetle's success is partly due to its remarkable ability to develop resistance to pesticides - it has overcome nearly every chemical control thrown at it, including DDT, and is resistant to more classes of insecticide than almost any other species. This adaptability has made it a model organism for studying the evolution of resistance and has driven research into biological control methods. Few insects demonstrate quite so clearly that the most effective designs in nature are not always the ones we would choose.

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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