Bugs series
Melon Fly (Bactrocera cucurbitae)
Tephritidae · South & Southeast Asia
- Adapted from Simon Tyler's book Bugs, published by Pavilion
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A natural history illustration print of Zeugodacus cucurbitae, a fruit fly barely eight millimetres across whose females lay over a thousand eggs - each one inserted beneath the skin of a growing fruit.
About this print
About this print
The damage happens out of sight. A female pierces the skin of a melon, cucumber, courgette or gourd with a sharp ovipositor and lays her eggs inside, and the larvae develop within the fruit, which rots from the inside out. A single female can lay more than a thousand.
That reproductive rate, combined with a wide range of host plants, has made it one of the most economically damaging fruit flies in the world. Native to South and Southeast Asia, it has spread to Africa, the Pacific islands and parts of the Americas.
Under magnification it is an elegant animal, with elaborately patterned wings that males display during courtship. It has also become a model organism for the sterile insect technique, in which sterilised males are released to collapse wild populations - a case where almost everything known about a species has been learned in the course of trying to control it.
A vector illustration of the melon fly in dorsal view, drawn for the Bugs series of insect art prints.
The Bugs series
The Bugs series
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.
Paper and printing
Paper and printing
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.
Dimensions
Dimensions
Large · 50 × 70 cm · 20 × 28 in
XLarge · 70 × 100 cm · 28 × 40 in
Delivery
Delivery
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.
Returns
Returns
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.