I'm looking to improve my own genitalia illustrations and would love to gather inspiration from top-notch examples. Who do you think produces the best genitalia drawings—whether from Diptera or other insect groups (or even from entirely different taxa)?
If you know of any artists, researchers, or publications with particularly clear, detailed, or elegant genitalia illustrations, please share! I think it would be both helpful and fun to explore some outstanding examples together.
Great topic! Some top sources for excellent genitalia illustrations include works by F. Christian Thompson (Diptera, especially Syrphidae), Axel Leonard Melander & Charles T. Greene, and J. F. McAlpine’s Manual of Nearctic Diptera. Rudolf Rozkošný and Eduard Lindner also produced beautiful Diptera drawings. Modern publications in journals like Zootaxa and ZooKeys feature high-quality digital illustrations, too.
Outside insects, artists like Alice Tangerini and Sarah Anne Maier offer superb anatomical drawings that can inspire good technique in line work and detail.
Curious—what insect groups are you focusing on?
Hi Riham Hilal, Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this.
I know most of them, but I will certainly look into the ones I do not know.
I am currently working with flies (Psychodidae), and there are some very good illustrations out there, I am just trying to find new styles that might help me improve my own drawings :)
People at (or formerly at) and from Kyushu University draw excellent genitalia figures. Search, for example for Diptera, Toyohei Saigusa and Hiroshi Shima.
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