There’s at least one truly shudder-inducing item in this elegant little website, and it works every time. Go to the “Bug of the month” feature, and select November: the German cockroach. As the page opens, five surprised roaches make a dash for the dark corner of your browser. When you’ve recovered, you can read all about the cockroach, inspect magnified images, and trace its lineage on a family tree of the insect world.

Prettier, if sometimes more dangerous, insects are given the same treatment under the other months of the year.

There is also a useful glossary of insect terms, and a brief tour of the Spencer Entomological Museum in Vancouver - currently closed for lack of funds - on whose massive collections the site is based.