Goliath Beetle (Goliathus goliatus)

A Goliath Beetle larva can exceed 80 grams, roughly the weight of a small apple, which makes this one of the heaviest insects alive. Adults still fly, producing a deep buzzing drone as they move between trees looking for fruit, sap and pollen.

There is a reason nothing gets much bigger. Insects breathe through tracheae, tubes that carry oxygen directly to the tissues, and the system becomes progressively less efficient as body size grows. The Goliath Beetle pushes that arrangement close to its modern limit - which is also why the giants of the Carboniferous, dragonflies with 70-centimetre wingspans, needed an atmosphere far richer in oxygen than today's.

Males carry a Y-shaped horn on the head, used in shoving contests over feeding sites and mates. The species is found from Cameroon and Nigeria through to the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the larvae spend months in decaying plant matter on the forest floor before pupating.

A vector illustration of the Goliath 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

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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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