A butterfly that could be almost 400 years old has been discovered pressed between the pages of an ancient library book at Cambridge University.
The perfectly preserved specimen, thought to be a small tortoiseshell, was found inside a copy of England s earliest insect book, Theatre of Insects, published in 1634.
The butterfly could be as old as the volume itself, according to experts at Trinity Hall, Cambridge University, which has had the book in its collection since 1996.
The beautiful specimen is as colourful as the day it was pressed between the book s pages , right next to its accompanying illustration, Trinity Hall revealed.