“To gaze enquiringly at some elegance of colour and form devised by the ingenuity of nature and painted by her artist’s pencil is to to acknowledge and adore the imprint of the art of God”.

John Ray (English naturalist and clergyman 1627 – 1705)

Arthropedia: An Illustrated Alphabet of Invertebrates is available from bookshops, or you can order it online from the publisher Mascot Media for £20, including free UK postage and packaging. If you are in the Norwich area you’re welcome to collect a copy from us (e-mail contact@arthropedia.co.uk to arrange a visit).

The book has 26 highly detailed full colour plates drawn in ink and watercolour, featuring my personal A to Z of arthropods. The plates are accompanied by informative text and further illustrations, mainly in black and white, featuring close up studies of individual species.

In all, the book’s 112 pages depict over 400 individual invertebrates, from more than 300 species.

Arthropedia: An Illustrated Alphabet of Invertebrates is not a field guide, but my personal celebration of the rich diversity of life that sits towards the bottom of the food chain, wisely described as the little things that make the world work.

Amazing Beauty and Diversity

My aim has been to showcase the amazing diversity and beauty of arthropod life. It is a celebration of the rich invertebrate life that can be found, with a little searching sometimes, in the British Isles. Most of the species featured in my book are not particularly rare, indeed a lot have been found in my small suburban back garden, but some have very limited distributions and there are a few extreme rarities that I have been very lucky to have seen. There are no ‘exotics’ as they can all be found (for the time being at least) in Britain, although a couple of my encounters were abroad in Europe. 

Providing Inspiration

I hope my book will whet your appetite and inspire you to go and look at this miniature world and make your own observations and discoveries, to be as enthralled as I am, and to want to contribute in any way to helping our invertebrates. This could be by putting plants for pollinators in a windowbox, gardening more benevolently for wildlife or volunteering in conservation work or monitoring.

Sample Images from ‘Arthropedia: An Illustrated Alphabet of Invertebrates‘

E is for… EMPERORS

Some Review Comments

“This book and lockdown were made for each other. Vanna Bartlett has produced a way to tap into the childlike inquisitiveness that many are finding as they look anew at their gardens and where they live.”

“Great artwork and design, with an informative text and black and white drawings. I like the way the text and drawings use personal diary records to give the whole thing an impressive individual feel. Surely unique?”

“Got my copy the other day. Worth every penny. Perfect antidote to personal distancing or self isolation.”

“It’s quite staggering what is sometimes right under our noses and there is no need to go trekking across the world to see fascinating creatures.”