MARIA SIBYLLA MERIAN (1647-1717)
Citron with a Monkey Slug Moth and a Harlequin Beetle
1702-03RCIN 921184
Merian continued her research on the ship back to Amsterdam, where she watched the Monkey Slug Moth (Phobetron hipparchia) emerge from its cocoon. She noted that it was ‘a very strange moth’. The Harlequin Beetle (Acrocinus longimanus) was a mystery to her; she explained that she added it here simply ‘on account of its rarity to complete and decorate the engraving’.