'Cool' insect photos in Leeds to inspire girls into science

The death's-head hawkmoth was synonymous with the film Silence of the Lambs

Extreme close-up pictures of insects showing their "phenomenal" designs are being shown as part of a push to get more girls into science.

From moths and mantids to beetles and bees, Leeds' world-class bug collection can been seen in remarkable detail.

Although open to everyone, it is hoped the display will inspire a new wave of female scientists and conservationists.

Curator Milo Phillips said: "We're using our collection to say look at this cool stuff which you could study."

Leaf beetles tend to be less than 12mm in length

The common bumble bee is a familiar sight in gardens

The close-up look at the bugs has been captured using macro-photography and turned into images measuring two metres by three metres.

Mr Phillips, Leeds Museums and Galleries assistant curator of entomology, said: "Everyone has a reaction to seeing an insect, whether they're creeped out or love them.

"Butterfly and moth wings are covered in scales like tiles on a roof and you can clearly see that on the images we've got.

"The pictures are a way of saying, hey here's an insect that may look tiny and obscure at first, but look at how phenomenal it really is up close."

The tropical carpenter bee inhabits forests in warm tropical climates

The photos, which will be shown alongside actual specimens from the collection, include the Goliath beetle, among the world's largest insects, and the death's-head hawkmoth, which has the ability to emit a loud chirp if irritated.

It is hoped the exhibition, alongside other work to inspire females into science, will help plug a shortfall of girls going into the profession.

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Mr Phillips said: "Nationally, there is a less than a quarter of women working in the field of technology, science, engineering and math and it's massively skewed towards men.

"It's part of how it's talked about in school and outside of education in shops, where little boys' t-shirts have bugs on and things like that.

"I can talk about bugs all day long, but we want people to come and see real-life science for themselves, as well as trying to overcome that gender stereotyping."

The exhibition, Dead Inspiring, opens at Leeds City Museum later in August.

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