2023 Art Competition Winners

‘Boring Rotters’

Veronica Cosier

Conceptual ceramic interpretations of wood boring beetles against the backdrop of a decaying beetle inhabited cherry tree stump.

“Having a fascination for the extensive variety of shapes and colours in the beetle world I wanted to capture their beauty through the medium of ceramic sculpture.”

Materials used: Hand building, Earthstone clay, velvet underglaze colours and low fire clear glaze.

• Beetles

Phylogeography of Carbula humerigera and C. putoni.

Edward Hughes

The image is based on an article by Liu et al. in RES journal Ecological Entomology (2018 doi: 10.1111/een.12486) that investigated the distribution and phylogeny of Carbula humerigera and C. putoni in eastern China.

Edward Hughes (the painter) and Huaxi Liu (the primary author) have worked on many articles together.

Materials: Acrylic on cotton

• True bugs

Little entomological jewels

Felipe Capoccia Coelho

A board of 9 different species of tortoise beetles (Cassidinae, Chrysomelidae) native to Brazil. On the background, there are a few of their main host plants.

“Cassidinae or tortoise beetles is the insect group that I study at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP – Brazil). I study the interections they have with plants. So I wanted to do a board representing some of my favourite species of them because they are very important to me.”

Materials: A huion drawing tablet and the Krita program

• Beetles

Embroidered Abstract of Dragonfly

Anna Hayward

The symmetrical markings of a dragonfly are used to create this embroidery. A variety of counted thread work stitches to represent the patterns from the head to the bottom of the body.

“Occasionally dragonflies make a visit to my tiny garden pond. They dart around so fast and seldom rest for long. I wanted to see what made these insects shimmer. Looking closely at photos, I noticed that like many insects they have interesting symmetrical lines and patterns.”

Materials: Even weave fabric and embroidery thread

• Dragonflies and damselflies

A trio of my personal favourite metallic bugs

Francesca Lant

“In the bug world, I do find the metallic varieties particularly delightful. Here are three of my favourite shiny bugs: a beautiful demoiselle, ruby tailed wasp and rosemary beetle.”

Materials: Watercolour, posca, fineliner

• Ants, bees, wasps and sawflies
• Beetles
• Dragonflies and damselflies

White Plume Moth

Eileen O’Haire

The White Plume Moth is a small night flying moth which is rarely seen. I have magnified the scale to bring out all of its spectral beauty.

“I saw my first White Plume Moth while waiting for the boat to Skomer Island. The toilet block on the quay was open to night insects and I saw the small strange moth on the windowsill. It made my day as much as the puffins did.”

Materials used: Drypoint card and intaglio printing ink.

• Butterflies and moths

Life in a tube, inside a pond. This midge larva bridges the gap between macro and micro.

Abdullah Shehabuddeen, age 14

This midge larva has built itself a tubular home from silt and its saliva, underwater. It’s poking its head outside and holding a particle of silt that will be added to the tube. In the background, other larvae have built tunnels on a distant leaf. Pond microbes swim everywhere.

Materials: Mechanical pencil, 8B pencil, drawing paper, Pigma Micron Markers

• True flies

Meditations in Neon

Daniel Martin, age 14

Insects meditating.

“My image was created by putting images of grasshoppers onto a background I drew myself. I was inspired by retro art and graffiti art.”

Materials used: Ibis Paint X

• Grasshoppers, crickets and bush-crickets

Tiles of insects

Kay McGivney, age 17

“I used repeating insect patterns and coloured them in different schemes to create an even bigger tile-like pattern.”

Materials: markers

• Beetles
• Butterflies and moths
• Dragonflies and damselflies

Two ants carrying a larva in between them.

Mariyah Shehabuddeen, age 14

Two ants carrying a large larva in between them through a tunnel in the ground.

“I like to imagine that the ants may be moving their colony, as ants occasionally do when their original home is destroyed or no longer meets the ants’ needs. I drew this painting/drawing as ants are one of my favorite insects and are incredibly interesting and intriguing to me.”

Materials: Watercolors, Alcohol Markers, Watercolor pencils, Normal coloring pencils

• Ants, bees, wasps and sawflies

bounty of beetles

Kay McGivney, age 17

Rainbow collection of beetles of various shapes, sizes and species.

“I wanted to illustrate many kinds of beetle to show how what many people consider gross can actually be very unique and pretty- and how underappreciated insects are in our planet.”

Materials: coloured pencils

• Beetles

Painted Lady Butterfly feeding, with head, upper thorax, and wings drawn.

Abdullah Shehabuddeen, age 14

A painted lady butterfly is feeding using an extended proboscis, while its wings are folded.

Materials used: Mechanical pencil, 8B pencil, drawing paper, Pigma Micron Markers

• Butterflies and moths

The starry flower beetle – Inca clathrata

Laura Kam, age 14

A pair of starry flower beetles specimens, the colouring pencils and the highlight document the magnificent beauty of the two beetles and provide an accurate drawing of them.

“Beetles have such a distinct difference between male and female. The scientific drawing of this specimen provide a clear comparison between the two. The scientific drawing capture the real beauty, how their star-like wings show the diversity of the beetle kingdom.”

Materials used: Colouring pencils

• Beetles

Ink bled wasp

Harry Moule, age 12

A blue to green gradient with a touch of yellow.

“An art and science collaboration during Insect Week.”

Materials: Ink bleeding

• Ants, bees, wasps and sawflies

A colourful beetle.

Ezaan Qureshi, age 12

A colourful beetle with a variety of colours.

“My school celebrated Insect week so I got the opportunity in my art class to draw a very colourful beetle with a variety of patterns and colours with lots of detail.”

Materials: Fine liner, Colouring pencils, tape

• Beetles

Amazing Insects Symphony no 1.

Jacob Jankielsohn, age 11

“A few of my favourite species. Bombardier beetle wins in my book!  I love insects. I have always been extremely interested in them and love drawing or painting them. I have been practicing my scientific illustrations and this was my first go at oil paints- to make something for my mom to hang up in our house!”

Materials: Oil on canvas and liner pen

• Ants, bees, wasps and sawflies
• Beetles
• Cockroaches and termites
• Mantises

Still print dragonfly

Thea Man, age 9

A dragonfly, resting.

“An observation of a dragonfly, one of the most fascinating inserts due to its many shapes, patterns and ridges.”

Materials: Black biro and black fineliner

• Dragonflies and damselflies

Bright Coloured Coffee Locust

Ananya Nadkarni, age 6

Aularches miliaris is a grasshopper species of the monotypic genus Aularches, belonging to the family Pyrgomorphida also known by the name Coffee Locust. Found in forest bushy areas of south Asia .

“As we were exploring a bushy area in Western Ghats of India, we came across a colorful grasshopper named Coffee Locust locally on a twig of a plant and decided to paint it using watercolors as I thought this painting would aid conservation of this near – threatened species.”

Materials used: watercolour paint, graphite pencil, watercolour paper.

• Grasshoppers, crickets and bush-crickets

summer in the village.

Timur Donos, age 5

Different insects wondering around the village.

Materials: felt tip pen

summer in the garden

Timur Donos, age 5

Different insects wondering around the garden.

Materials: felt pen