Bug Face

A breathtaking celebration of the world’s most visually arresting creatures—insects!—featuring stunning anatomical details that can’t be seen by the naked eye.

When author Pete Burford first picked up a macro-lens camera in 2020, he couldn’t have imagined the world he would uncover. Beetles so iridescent, they look like gemstones. Grasshoppers covered head to thorax in graphic patterns. Spiders with single tufts of hair sprouting from the tops of their heads. Burford shares all these discoveries and more in Bug Face. A collection of Burford’s most-loved portraits, Bug Face brings readers face to face with insects and spiders of all species, showcasing their unexpected beauty up close and personal. Each image invites readers to think of each subject as a natural work of art—rather than a creature to fear or test—by highlighting the textures, patterns, colors, and anatomy that can’t be seen by the naked eye. Readers will be surprised to see the spiky mandibles of the Northern Dune Tiger Beetle, the blushing cheeks of the Giant Asian Mantis, and the individual drops of dew covering the Common Blue Damselfly. The portraits are loosely arranged in a color gradient that spans the length of the book, and they’re paired in a way that highlights the graphic nature of the bugs’ anatomy. Through these 200 expressive images, Bug Face celebrates the world’s most beautiful creatures.