I'll be honest: I don't tend to think of insects as pretty, or in any way attractive. They are so alien-looking, so full of stingers and claws and hideous ways to murder us, they squick me out. My interest in using them as food makes them look more appealing to me, but not more attractive.

But.

But I just came across an absolutely stunning portfolio of macroscopic insect photography by John Hallmén. The set is from about 4 years ago, but the pictures are absolutely remarkable. It's easy to think of bugs as just being black little blobs of mandibles, but in reality they're colourful, complex looking beings. They do have mandibles, though, along with claws and other things I don't know the words for that could easily take us all out if they were just a little bigger, but man. They're so captivating, like some terrifying painting that, if you stared at it too long, might inject you with a toxin that would liquefy your organs.

Check out John's beautiful insect photography on his Flickr page.