Look at this, Ernie: Sesame Street character Bert's face found on stink bug

His sketches with best friend Ernie, his love of the letter W and his fondness for pigeons have bought happiness to millions of children around the globe.

And now it appears that Sesame Street character Bert's popularity has even reached the natural world - with this tribute from a stink beetle in a Singapore forest.

Creeping through the branches, this creature looks strikingly like the character whose relationship with Ernie formed the centre-piece of the show.

The remarkable image was captured by Winston Jansen, an amateur photographer who lives in the country.

After passing hundreds of other insects in  the  forest, this bug caught Mr Jansen's eye due to its 'stunning colour and intricate camouflage'.

Spotting the insect he quickly picked up his camera to get up close - and discovered the face of the TV character branded across its back.

Winston, 32, said: 'I was simply in awe at the beauty of the camouflage - I know many insects use it to avoid being preyed upon but I'd never seen anything like it before.

'I was just captivated by the bright colours. Then on closer inspection it just hit me there is actually a face on its back.

'I had to be very careful not to startle it as I approached it because I'd had a few insects scurry away earlier that day - but there was no way this one was getting away.'

Winston, a banker from Singapore, first picked up a camera in 2009 and specialises in macro photography - a unique skill revealing details hidden in normal photography.

He was visiting the forests specifically to shoot insects on a macro photography trip.
He added: 'It was about midday, I chanced upon this stink bug and fortunately it was actually quite co-operative so I managed to take a number of shots at different angles.

'After I shot this bug I did some research when I got home and found out there are so many more variations of this species.

'I'm still hoping I will be able to capture more variations of it.'