Specimen No. 55 - The Kintsugi Skimmer (a.k.a. Cerulean Mosaicwing)

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Specimen No. 73

Name: The Kintsugi Skimmer a.k.a. Cerulean Mosaicwing  |  Libellula vitromurina osakensis

Collected by: Dr. Etsuko Shibayama, Naturalist and Textile Archivist

Date of Collection: 18 May 1898

Locality: Umeda River Gardens, Osaka Prefecture, Japan

Catalog No: FD - 18 - 73

Mounted on paper now freckled with errant yellow and blue watermarks — the source of which remains undocumented, though some suspect tea spills or pigment testing — this dragonfly was flattened and preserved with unusual care, as if its wings were pressed not merely for science but for textile study. That would align, in fact, with its discoverer: Dr. Etsuko Shibayama, a botanist by training but best known for her forensic work in Edo-period dye analysis and mid-Meiji insect records.

The Cerulean Mosaicwing, as it came to be called colloquially, is most notable for the intricate stained-glass patterning across all four wings — a tessellation of ultramarine, lapis, indigo, lilac, and river-glass green. Each tile-like cell appears bordered in a faint metallic ink, recalling the ancient Japanese art of kintsugi — the golden joining of broken things. Near the distal tips of each wing, one finds a stormy blue bloom resembling malachite or crushed velvet, bordered by bands of eggplant purple and glazed ceramic teal. The effect is less insect than ornamental window — something meant to hang in a quiet temple and catch the morning light.

Its body is unusually broad and columnar, like a matchstick carved from blackened wood. The abdomen bears no visible segmentation, but instead tapers slowly, as if dipped in sumi ink and drawn downwards with a trembling hand. The eyes — perfectly spherical and dusted with periwinkle flecks — seem polished, reflecting the same mosaic palette as its wings. This particular feature led to early speculation that it might be crepuscular, active during the dimming hours when such reflective vision would offer tactical advantage.

Indeed, field observations — few as they are — note that the Mosaicwing is a dusk flier, most active between 6:15 and 7:10 PM, particularly in mid-May when the azaleas along the Umeda River emit their warmest perfume. The insect is known to fly low and level, just above still water, preferring tiled koi ponds and old stone basins in neglected gardens.

Dr. Shibayama discovered the first specimen while preparing a lecture on regional dye sources and wandered into a walled garden behind the old silk merchants’ hall. In her journal, she writes:

“I mistook it first for a scrap of lacquer paper, caught on the hedge. But it turned to look at me, and I realized I had not been invited —I had trespassed into its hour.”

Since then, only four specimens have ever been recorded, each one pressed with odd reverence onto hand-pulped paper, often pre-marked with stains, blooms, or faded calligraphy. Why this mounting practice persists remains uncertain, but some believe it honors the dragonfly’s own commitment to pattern — a creature so composed, so deliberately assembled, it deserves to be catalogued like a textile swatch or a poem.

The Osaka Natural History Archive houses the original, still vibrant despite its age, under low lighting and behind UV glass. Visitors are advised to view it from a slight angle, where the light best reveals its glinting panels. A plaque beside it reads only:

“Wings made of windows, flown at the hour lamps are lit.”

Note: High quality archival glicée print on acid-free paper, a method that creates fine art reproductions with exceptional color accuracy and longevity. Pigments-based inks are designed to resist fading and discoloration and capture the finest details and subtle color variations with great precision.  

Housed in a 4×6” crystal-clear acrylic specimen block, its 1” depth allows freestanding display. Each piece is designed to exhibit on desk or shelf.. 

Fly Design uses a practice known as entonology — the study of fictitious insects — to reimagine the natural world through scientific storytelling and poetic design.


Specimen No. 73

Name: The Kintsugi Skimmer a.k.a. Cerulean Mosaicwing  |  Libellula vitromurina osakensis

Collected by: Dr. Etsuko Shibayama, Naturalist and Textile Archivist

Date of Collection: 18 May 1898

Locality: Umeda River Gardens, Osaka Prefecture, Japan

Catalog No: FD - 18 - 73

Mounted on paper now freckled with errant yellow and blue watermarks — the source of which remains undocumented, though some suspect tea spills or pigment testing — this dragonfly was flattened and preserved with unusual care, as if its wings were pressed not merely for science but for textile study. That would align, in fact, with its discoverer: Dr. Etsuko Shibayama, a botanist by training but best known for her forensic work in Edo-period dye analysis and mid-Meiji insect records.

The Cerulean Mosaicwing, as it came to be called colloquially, is most notable for the intricate stained-glass patterning across all four wings — a tessellation of ultramarine, lapis, indigo, lilac, and river-glass green. Each tile-like cell appears bordered in a faint metallic ink, recalling the ancient Japanese art of kintsugi — the golden joining of broken things. Near the distal tips of each wing, one finds a stormy blue bloom resembling malachite or crushed velvet, bordered by bands of eggplant purple and glazed ceramic teal. The effect is less insect than ornamental window — something meant to hang in a quiet temple and catch the morning light.

Its body is unusually broad and columnar, like a matchstick carved from blackened wood. The abdomen bears no visible segmentation, but instead tapers slowly, as if dipped in sumi ink and drawn downwards with a trembling hand. The eyes — perfectly spherical and dusted with periwinkle flecks — seem polished, reflecting the same mosaic palette as its wings. This particular feature led to early speculation that it might be crepuscular, active during the dimming hours when such reflective vision would offer tactical advantage.

Indeed, field observations — few as they are — note that the Mosaicwing is a dusk flier, most active between 6:15 and 7:10 PM, particularly in mid-May when the azaleas along the Umeda River emit their warmest perfume. The insect is known to fly low and level, just above still water, preferring tiled koi ponds and old stone basins in neglected gardens.

Dr. Shibayama discovered the first specimen while preparing a lecture on regional dye sources and wandered into a walled garden behind the old silk merchants’ hall. In her journal, she writes:

“I mistook it first for a scrap of lacquer paper, caught on the hedge. But it turned to look at me, and I realized I had not been invited —I had trespassed into its hour.”

Since then, only four specimens have ever been recorded, each one pressed with odd reverence onto hand-pulped paper, often pre-marked with stains, blooms, or faded calligraphy. Why this mounting practice persists remains uncertain, but some believe it honors the dragonfly’s own commitment to pattern — a creature so composed, so deliberately assembled, it deserves to be catalogued like a textile swatch or a poem.

The Osaka Natural History Archive houses the original, still vibrant despite its age, under low lighting and behind UV glass. Visitors are advised to view it from a slight angle, where the light best reveals its glinting panels. A plaque beside it reads only:

“Wings made of windows, flown at the hour lamps are lit.”

Note: High quality archival glicée print on acid-free paper, a method that creates fine art reproductions with exceptional color accuracy and longevity. Pigments-based inks are designed to resist fading and discoloration and capture the finest details and subtle color variations with great precision.  

Housed in a 4×6” crystal-clear acrylic specimen block, its 1” depth allows freestanding display. Each piece is designed to exhibit on desk or shelf.. 

Fly Design uses a practice known as entonology — the study of fictitious insects — to reimagine the natural world through scientific storytelling and poetic design.