Digital illustration in the style of an old scientific print. It is of 'Lamplighters and their allies', depicting 7 bees/wasps from the Fallen London universe. They are the chorister bee (1, 'Asterapis canta'), common lamplighter (2, 'Lucis mellifera'), western lamplighter (3, 'Lucis coronata'), Old Newgate lamplighter (4, 'Lucis alumna'), blood-wasp (5, 'Ensivespus sanguinus'), gallblighter (6, 'Furoculi ruber'), and huz bee (7, 'Lacrimophila affinis').

drawn on the 12th of May 2024, posted on the 14th of August 2024, mirrored here on the 5th of September 2025

Fanart for Fallen London, and my submission to the 3rd Neath to Reach zine. The theme was 'Field Guide of Biology', so an arrangement of Neathy creatures seemed obvious. Have you noticed that I love hymenopterans?

1 - Chorister Bee

A species of bee from Sunless Skies. Being the size of dogs, the bee shown here is different in shape from its Neathy cousins; the wings are more robust in structure, the claws and mandibles much larger. A structure on the hindwings allows for the plainsong stridulation shown in canon... or something along those lines. Most of this design, though, was based on a single development screenshot.

Asterapis canta translates to 'singing star bee'.

2 - Common Lamplighter

The most common bee seen in Fallen London, the Neathy equivalent of a honey bee. There's surprisingly little to go off of when it comes to physical descriptions, but one part of the Nemesis ambition describes them as bioluminescent, so I exchanged the usual yellow bee stripes for glowing ones.

Lucis mellifera translates to 'honey-bearing light' - a reference to the western honey bee's binomial name.

3 - Western Lamplighter

3 bees in and we're already into mostly-headcanon territory; this, believe it or not, is a devil. The few descriptions of devils without their skins tend to compare them to lamplighters, so something easily mistakeable for one seemed like an obvious choice. Narrow wings and body 1) to squeeze into smaller spaces and 2) to increase the resemblance to a generic wasp. Little curved claws so they have some kind of hands to use.

Lucis coronata translates to 'crowned light'. Devils are associated with their royalty (whether they like it or not) and the front claws do have a kind of tined appearance.

4 - Old Newgate Lamplighter

Bees that once lived amongst devils in Parabola, now left to swarm Old Newgate Prison. Canonically larger than normal lamplighters, but they were once used to writhe into bodies for red honey harvesting (of course), so these ones have a kind of crumpled look to their wings and antennae.

Lucis alumna translates to 'learnt/nourished light' - not only are they accessible through (a storylet in) the University, but they've definitely been nourished by whoever remains.

5 - Blood-Wasp

A dangerous species of wasp from the Elder Continent, mentioned only in a few snippets of text. All we know of them is that they have 'a stinger that will go through an oak door'. Took inspiration from the more-relevant gallblighters for this one's design.

Ensivespus sanguinus translates to 'bloody sword wasp'. Or close enough.

6 - Gallblighter

Our most famous species of Neathy wasp (excluding bees). A parasitoid that lays its eggs in your eyes. Mostly referenced the in-game art for this one, with additional touches of ichneumonids and the red paper wasp.

Furoculi ruber translates to 'red eye thief'.

7 - Huz Bee

Finally, some sapient bees that drink your tears and build hives on your body. This one was based off carpenter bees, simply to add some variety.

Lacrimophila affinis translates to 'friendly/allied tear-lover'.