Life cycle of a butterfly
Date
1669
Creator
Jan Swammerdam (1637 - 1680, Dutch) , Biologist
Creator - Organisation
Meinardus van Dreunen, Publisher
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (plate): 282mm
width (plate): 171mm
width (plate): 171mm
Subject
Content object
Description
Entomological study of the life cycle of a butterfly. 12 figures showing the stages of metamorphosis from egg (figure I), to caterpillar (figure III), to chrysalis (figure IV-V), to butterfly (figure VI).
Inscribed ‘TAB X. TERTIUS ORDO. Nympha Chrysallis of Aurelia gulde-popken.’
Plate 10 from Historia insectorum generalis by Jan Swammerdam published by Meinardus van Dreunen (Utrecht, 1669).
Jan Swammerdam (1637-1680) was a Dutch biologist and microscopist. He continued Robert Hooke’s observations of insects in more systematic research which employed a single lens microscope. From the late 1660s, he dissected and studied the development of these creatures, noting their internal organs and methods of reproduction – he concluded that insects were not the product of spontaneous generation.
Inscribed ‘TAB X. TERTIUS ORDO. Nympha Chrysallis of Aurelia gulde-popken.’
Plate 10 from Historia insectorum generalis by Jan Swammerdam published by Meinardus van Dreunen (Utrecht, 1669).
Jan Swammerdam (1637-1680) was a Dutch biologist and microscopist. He continued Robert Hooke’s observations of insects in more systematic research which employed a single lens microscope. From the late 1660s, he dissected and studied the development of these creatures, noting their internal organs and methods of reproduction – he concluded that insects were not the product of spontaneous generation.
Associated place