Legs Gallery

Douglas Bader - Flying Ace of WW2

Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader (1910-1982) - Royal Air Force flying ace during the Second World War. A postcard produced for the (Royal) Overseas League and sent to troops along with cigarettes gifted from collections from schoolchildren during the war. These cards were pre-printed with a return address of the school who had made the collection in question intended to be filled in by servicemen and sent back with thanks. Date: circa 1945

© Mary Evans / Grenville Collins Postcard Collection

Culex mosquito, SEM

Culex mosquito. Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of a Culex sp. mosquito. The mosquito's head is dominated by its large compound eyes (brown spheres). Sprouting from between its eyes are the antennae, which are sensory organs covered in fine hairs. The long thin proboscis protruding from the bottom of the head is used for feeding. Only female mosquitoes feed on blood. Mosquitoes have six long jointed legs. Several Culex species are vectors for human diseases, including West Nile virus and Japanese encephalitis

© DR TONY BRAIN/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Honey bee, SEM

Honey bee (Apis mellifera), coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM). The head and one of the two compound eyes is at lower left, with one of the antennae and the mouthparts below and left of the eye. Behind the head is the hairy thorax, with the striped abdomen at right. Several of the six legs are also seen, along with the wings. Bees feed on the nectar and pollen produced by flowering plants, turning them into liquefied sugar (honey). They are important pollinators of these plants, carrying pollen between them on their hairy bodies and back legs

© DAVID MCCARTHY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY