There are thought to be more than 1.5 million species of beetle on the planet, meaning that one quarter of all animal species are beetles. This display of shimmering jewel-like insects seems like just a drop in the ocean, when you take that into consideration. Apt, perhaps, as the oceans and the poles of the Earth are the only places beetles don’t live.

Blackburn Museum has over 4000 beetles, many of which have been in the collection since 1914, when they were donated by Arthur C Bowdler. The Victorians, Charles Darwin included, loved going ‘beetling’ and their collections – dried out, pinned to cards and carefully placed in these wooden cases – are a valuable resource for understanding the fauna of the world at the time.