Enough to make your skin crawl

There are almost 4000 species of cockroach worldwide, apparently. Most live in tropical / subtropical forests and aren't considered a threat to public health. About 10 species, however, have adapted to human environments and become the 'pest' we know and hate, a carrier of diseases such as salmonella, typhoid, leprosy and even bubonic plague.



Penna Plc on behalf of Ecolab (world leader in commercial pest control) asked me to illustrate a series of recruitment ads for surveyors, technicians and sales executives. This one takes the form of a natural history display cabinet, with specimens lovingly collected and pinned down for scientific examination. The final sample Cockroachus Historicus has been brutally crushed: unlike the competition, Ecolab takes no prisoners.