Colorado Potato Beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata)

It looks designed: ten black stripes on yellow wing cases, a neatly spotted orange thorax, a clean graphic quality. It is also resistant to more classes of insecticide than almost any other insect on Earth - more than fifty compounds, DDT included - which is why it remains one of the most damaging pests of potatoes worldwide.

It did not start there. The beetle is native to the Rocky Mountains, where it fed on wild nightshades and troubled nobody. When potato growing spread west in the mid-nineteenth century it switched hosts, reached the Atlantic coast by the 1870s, and crossed to Europe within decades. It now occupies much of the Northern Hemisphere.

That capacity for resistance has made it a model organism for studying how resistance evolves, and a driving reason for the shift towards biological control. It is a clear demonstration that the most effective designs in nature are not always the ones we would have chosen.

A vector illustration of the Colorado potato beetle 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 · 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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