Exquisite Creatures Panoramic Boxed Notecards

Entomologist/artist Christopher Marley has spent a lot of time in the remote environments where the world’s most beautiful bugs scuttle and click. Now he is more at home in his studio, artfully arranging the brilliantly colorful exoskeletons of these insect wonders into compositions that might suggest schools of fish, precious stones, or traffic jams.

Marley’s colorful arrangements—each a veritable bouquet de bug—stand in stark contrast to the chaos of life on the forest floor, transforming one’s “Ooo—ick!” reaction into awe and vanished preconceptions. Hard to believe but true: Marley’s arthropod art is all natural—no color enhancement, digital replication, or any other computer trick is involved in its creation. Insect collection is a boon to rainforest and jungle bug populations: if indigenous people can make money by catching bugs, they are less likely to turn delicate ecosystems over to agricultural use. Loss of habitat, not collection, is the real threat to insect populations.

This box of notecards features four of Marley’s captivating images.