Welcome to our Blog

Insect Designs has been on the Internet since 2003. We are currently the largest supplier of quality insect specimens in Australia, and we ship worldwide. This blog features the latest news from our store as well as the occasional interesting news we have uncovered about the wonderful world of bugs.
If you would like to view the range of insect specimens we have available, please visit our store.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Fresh Specimens from Madagascar

Insect Designs has just received some fresh butterflies, moths and beetles from Madagascar, including, amongst others, Colotis zoe, Argema mittrei, Urania ripheus, Graphium endochus, Celidota splendens and a few rare Charaxes. Please visit the store soon for a browse.




Wednesday, December 7, 2011

New Specimens from Peru, Bolivia and Indonesia

Insect Designs has been updated yet again with lots of restocks and new items from Peru, Bolivia and Indonesia. Some of these are pictured below. Of special note are the Macrodontia cerivornis and Dynastes hercules (one is almost black) from Peru and Prepona buckleyana from Bolivia (1 only). Please visit the store soon for a browse.



Monday, December 5, 2011

Nice Butterflies from Solomons, Philippines and Tanzania

Insect Designs has just been updated with some nice specimens from the Solomons, the Philippines and Tanzania. Stock of some of the rarer items is extremely limited. In this update you will find:
  • Papilio fuscus pairs and Graphium hicetaon females from the Solomon Islands
  • Pachliopta kotzebuea tindongana, Charaxes solon orchomenus pairs, Charaxes plateni pairs and Charaxes bufalos bufalos females from the Philippines
  • Interesting froms of Papilio bromius and Papilio phorcas from the remote Minziro forest region in Tanzania.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Charaxes Etesipe Gynandromorph

A gynandromorph refers to a specimen that is half male and half female. These are very rare and often fetch high prices. One of our customers, a mad keen Charaxes collector with a super impressive collection, sent me this photo of a Charaxes etesipe gynandromorph he has recently acquired. Although it is a little battered, it is a very nice specimen indeed.


Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Fresh Specimens from the Philippines

Insect Designs has just been updated with some fresh specimens from the Philippines. The Prothoe semperi gregalis from Surigao are especially nice. Please visit soon for a browse. As always, if you have any questions please contact us.


Thursday, November 24, 2011

New Butterflies from Peru

Insect Designs has just been updated with some restocks and new items from Peru. In this update you will find Papilio hypasson males and females, Battus polydamas females, Pierella amalia, Arcas imperialis, Castnia licus, Morpho uraneis eugenia males and females (1 A1 female only) and Anaea anna. Stock of some of these is extremely limited. Please visit the store soon for a browse.


New Butterflies from Colombia

Insect Designs has just been updated with some restocks and new butterflies from Colombia including red Heliconius doris, a variety of Caligo species, Morpho peleides pairs, Prepona demophon and Papilio thoas neacles. Please visit the store soon for a browse.


Thursday, November 10, 2011

New Specimens from Thailand

After a very long delay in customs, Insect Designs has finally received a new parcel of specimens from Thailand. As well as restocks of various items such as beetles, butterflies, spiders, scorpions and lantern flies, we also have some new items. All of these can be found in the 'other bugs' section of the site. We have some new lantern flies and some very impressive centipedes, averaging 230mm long! We only have 10 of these monsters in stock.




Monday, November 7, 2011

New Specimens from Malaysia

Insect Designs has just received some interesting new specimens from Malaysia, including lantern flies, spiders, leaf insects, scorpions and shield bugs. You will find all of these in the 'other bugs' section of the store. We also have a few restocks, including some beetles. While you are visiting also check out the stunning stick insects we recently added to our selection.


Tuesday, October 25, 2011

New Morpho sub-species

The Morphidae section at Insect Designs has just been updated with some restocks and new items, including some interesting sub-species. We have other Morphos on order, but IRENA in Peru is taking up to two months now to process export permits. We hope to have more within the next few weeks.


Stick Insects from Kalimantan and Borneo

Insect Designs has just received some interesting stick insects from Kalimantan and Borneo. They are pictured below. Stock is extremely limited, so you'll need to be quick if you want any of them. You will find them in the 'other bugs' section of the site.


Fresh Specimens from Indonesia and RCA

Insect Designs has just been updated with some new items and restocks from Indonesia and RCA. Stock of some items is very limited. Of special note are the Attacus doherty pairs, Morphotaenaris schoenbergi male and Ulysses ulysses females. There are many others on offer. Please visit soon for a browse.


Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Fresh Papilio toboroi straatman from the Solomons

Insect Designs has just received some very fresh male and female Papilio toboroi straatman from the Solomon Islands. These are much sought after butterflies by collectors and we only have 8 males and 2 females available. Please visit us soon for a browse.


Tuesday, October 4, 2011

One A1 Pair Ornithoptera chimaera Available

Insect Designs now has one very nice pair of Ornithoptera chimaera charybdis for sale. You will find it on our birdwings page. We are able to post this internationally with a valid CITES re-export permit. However, sadly for our customers in the United States, due to extra paperwork required by customs in the USA, we are not able to ship birdwing butterflies to the USA. If you have any questions please contact us.


Saturday, September 24, 2011

New Beetles from Tanzania

Insect Designs has just been updated with some new beetles and restocks from Tanzania. You will find these in the Cetoniidae and Buprestidae sections of the web site. Please visit soon for a browse.


Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Malaysia Collection for Sale

Insect Designs received an email from somebody who is wanting to sell a collection of butterflies his father collected in Malaysia during the 1980s. Photos of the collection are below. If you are interested and would like to contact him for more information, please contact us and we will forward you his details. Please note that these will really only be available to people in Australia as 2 of the frames contain Trogonoptera brookiana, a CITES listed species.










Tuesday, September 20, 2011

African Singles Page Updated

The African Singles Page at Insect Designs has just been updated with lots of lovely fresh moths from Cameroon, including males and females. The singles page now has 140 specimens listed. The photo of each specimen on the page is of the actual specimen you are purchasing. The best of the specimens normally sell quickly, so please visit soon for a browse.


Thursday, September 15, 2011

New Specimens from Argentina and Brazil

Insect Designs has just been updated with some restocks and new items from Argentina and Brazil, including some rare Papilios and Brassolidae. We also have some fresh Morphidae, Heliconidae, and two nice female Papilio androgeus. The photo below only shows some of the specimens available. Please visit soon for a browse as stock of some items is very low.


Friday, September 9, 2011

Fresh Specimens from the Philippines

Insect Designs has just received a fresh shipment of butterflies from the Philippines, including some new items and restocks. Of note are the various Lexias species on offer and Menelaides polytes ledebouria f. theseus. Please visit soon for a browse.


Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Birdwings Now Available to our International Customers

We are pleased to announce that our CITES re-export permit has now arrived and all birdwing butterflies in our store are now available to our international customers. There is no charge for the permit. Although a CITES re-export permit is sufficient for most countries, it is advisable that our international customers check with customs in their own country to see if there is anything else required. For example, you may also be required to apply for an import permit (as we are in Australia). Please contact us if you have any questions.



Friday, August 26, 2011

Fresh Specimens from India

Insect Designs has just received some lovely Argynnis childreni males and Lexias khasiana pairs from NE India. Please visit soon for a browse.


Price Reductions Now

Insect Designs has just reduced its prices on some very nice Stichopthalma species from Thailand and Burma. These specimens are hard to get, especially the Stichopthalma godfreyi pair from Thailand. Please visit us soon for a browse. Stock is extremely limited and we are not likely to get fresh specimens again until 2012.


Singles Pages Updated

The African Singles page and Moths page at Insect Designs have just been updated with some interesting specimens. The African Singles page features many butterflies and moths from Cameroon and Tanzania. In this latest update you will find several very nice female silk moths, including several with very long tails. In the moths section you will find some nice Pericopinae from Peru. Please visit soon for a browse. The singles pages are unique in that you are getting the actual specimen pictured in the photos.



Thursday, August 18, 2011

Ornithoptera Meridionalis Pair

Insect Designs has just obtained a very nice Ornithoptera meridionalis pair. The female is A1 and the male has a small stain, making it A1-/A-. The photo below is of the actual male in the pair with the stain clearly visible. We only have 1 pair available, so you'll need to be quick if you want it.


Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Peruvian Butterfly Mix

Insect Designs has just received some fresh butterfly specimens from Peru. Many of the unidentified ones can be found in our Peruvian mix in the specials section of the store. Please visit soon for a browse.


Thursday, August 11, 2011

Ornithoptera Urvillianus from Solomon Islands

Whilst sorting my boxes containing birdwing butterflies I came across some pairs of Ornithoptera urvillianus from the Solomon Islands. I am not currently able to re-export them because of a current ban on CITES material from the Solomons. However, they are available to all Australian customers. I have 3 A1/A1- pairs available. Once sold I will put up a few A- and A2 pairs. Visit the birdwing page now for a browse.


Friday, August 5, 2011

Fresh Butterflies from Peru

Insect Designs has just been updated with lots of restocks and some new items from Peru. Stock of some items is very limited. Please visit soon for a browse. As always, if you have any questions please contact us.


Friday, July 29, 2011

Fresh Birdwings from Indonesia

Insect Designs has just been updated with some long awaited birdwing butterflies from Indonesia. Amongst the many on offer are some much sought after hybrids. Stock is very limited. The photos below are of just some of the species we have available.

It can take up to two months for us to receive our renewed CITES re-export permit for these. What this means is that they will only be available to our Australian customers until the permit is processed. There will be a note on the web site and in this blog when the specimens become available to our overseas customers.

If you have any questions please contact us.




Wednesday, July 27, 2011

New Specimens from Peru

Insect Designs has just been updated with two new items from Peru. First of all in our Moths section we have the stunning Thysania agrippina. This very large moth has the most beautiful patterning. Secondly in our Other Bugs section we have some beautiful Megaloprepus coerulatus. These large damselflies have very distinctive yellow spots at the tips of their forewings.

Please visit us soon for a browse.