UK-based illustrator Richard Wilkinson created a series of fantastical insects based on the most famous Star Wars characters. It’s easy to imagine these incredibly life-like renderings truly existing as creatures crawling on a planet far away, and each is given a cheeky scientific name with Latin roots that relate to its sci-fi counterpart like Roboduobus Deoduobus for R2D2 or Chaetebarbatus Bonamicii for Chewbacca. Wilkinson has previous experience creating scientifically-minded illustrations for publications like New Scientist and Intelligent Life Magazine.

These first 10 illustrations titled Insects From A Far Away Galaxy are just the first set in a much larger body of work for a planned book, Arthropoda Iconicus Volume I, that will make references to other pop culture characters like Pokemon, Marvel Comics, and Disney. The pieces seen here are now available as limited edition prints, and you can follow more of Wilkinson’s work on Instagram. (via Colossal Submissions)

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