These jewelled tubes were built by insects.
The little creature inside is a caddisfly larva, carrying a protective case it assembled itself.
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Insects that build homes from gold and gemstones
Caddisfly larvae normally build with things they find nearby: sand, tiny stones or fragments of plants.
Artist Hubert Duprat supplied gold, pearls and gemstones. The larvae used those instead.
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Insects that build homes from gold and gemstones
The larvae bind the pieces together with silk and line the tube with more silk.
The result looks like miniature jewellery, assembled through an insect’s ordinary home-building behaviour.
