An academic has created a unique clothing range specifically designed to attract pollinating insects.

Swansea Metropolitan University's Karen Ingham aims to highlight the plight of creepy crawlies such as bees, butterflies and moths with her Pollinator Frocks range.

Each item of clothing is covered with floral prints enhanced by a microscope and coated with an iridescent sheen - replicating the way insects view the flowers.

Advertisement: Story continues below The fabric has also been treated with substances imitating nectars such as sucrose and fructose.

"While the dire predicament of the world's bees has been widely publicised, the situation facing other pollinating insects is not as well known," says Dr Ingham.

"Yet, not only do insect pollinators play a vital role in food production, they are also inexorably tied to the health and biodiversity of our flora."

The frocks have been tested and developed through a series of "walkabouts" in New Zealand's Pukekura Botanic Parklands as part of the art, technology and ecology event SCANZ 2011.

The project will continue during the spring and summer before a limited collection is produced for sale.

Ten per cent of profits will go to organisations trying to tackle urgent issues surrounding pollination and biodiversity.