Caterpillar
Date
1768
Creator
Adam Wolfgang Winterschmidt (1733 - 1796, German) , Engraver
After
Martin Frobene Ledermuller (1719 - 1769, German) , Naturalist
Object type
Library reference
48660
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 245mm
width (print): 195mm
width (print): 195mm
Subject
Content object
Description
Entomological study of various stages of a caterpillar’s metamorphoses, from caterpillar, to chrysalis, to butterfly.
Inscribed above: ‘TAB: XXVI.’
The accompanying text is headed: ‘Une des plus belles Chenilles, sa metamorphose & quelques parties de son papillon’ [‘A beautiful caterpillar, its metamorphosis and parts of its butterfly’].
The author describes the process as follows: ‘Apres l'avoir nourrie 3 semaines dans un verre avec de l'herbe d'esule, je remarquai a la maniere dont elle se vautroit, que le tems de sa matamorphose n'etoit pas loin. C'est porquoi je jettai un peu de terre fraiche au fond du verre, ou elle se fit tout de suit un lit, dans lequel elle ne sit pendant trois jour que se tourner & virer. Le quatrieme jour elle sut deja toute enveloppee d'une toile tres fine, sous laquelle elle devint au bout de 9 Jours la chrysalide b) c). Il se passa un anentier, c'est a dire de Juin 1761 jusqu'aout 1762 avant que le bel oiseau de nuit dont vous voyes le dos represente fig. d. & le ventre fig. e. sortit de sa coque’ [‘After having fed her 3 weeks in a glass with maple grass, I noticed the way she wallowed, that the time of her metamorphosis was not far away. Therefore, I threw a little fresh earth at the bottom of the glass, where she immediately made herself into a bed, in which she only sat for three day, turning and turning. On the fourth day she was enveloped in a very fine canvas, under which she became after 9 days the chrysalis b) c). An entire year passed, from June 1761 until August 1762, before the beautiful butterfly whose back you see represents fig. d. & the belly fig. e. came out of its hull’].
Plate 26 from Amusement microscopique, tant pour l'esprit que pour les yeux, contenant... estampes... d'apres nature...by Martin Frobene Ledermuller, plates volume (Adam Wolfgang Winterschmidt, Nuremburg, 1768).
Martin Frobene [Frobenius] Ledermuller (1719-1769) German naturalist was employed in various capacities as a notary, turning to microscope studies after an illness induced temporary deafness.
Inscribed above: ‘TAB: XXVI.’
The accompanying text is headed: ‘Une des plus belles Chenilles, sa metamorphose & quelques parties de son papillon’ [‘A beautiful caterpillar, its metamorphosis and parts of its butterfly’].
The author describes the process as follows: ‘Apres l'avoir nourrie 3 semaines dans un verre avec de l'herbe d'esule, je remarquai a la maniere dont elle se vautroit, que le tems de sa matamorphose n'etoit pas loin. C'est porquoi je jettai un peu de terre fraiche au fond du verre, ou elle se fit tout de suit un lit, dans lequel elle ne sit pendant trois jour que se tourner & virer. Le quatrieme jour elle sut deja toute enveloppee d'une toile tres fine, sous laquelle elle devint au bout de 9 Jours la chrysalide b) c). Il se passa un anentier, c'est a dire de Juin 1761 jusqu'aout 1762 avant que le bel oiseau de nuit dont vous voyes le dos represente fig. d. & le ventre fig. e. sortit de sa coque’ [‘After having fed her 3 weeks in a glass with maple grass, I noticed the way she wallowed, that the time of her metamorphosis was not far away. Therefore, I threw a little fresh earth at the bottom of the glass, where she immediately made herself into a bed, in which she only sat for three day, turning and turning. On the fourth day she was enveloped in a very fine canvas, under which she became after 9 days the chrysalis b) c). An entire year passed, from June 1761 until August 1762, before the beautiful butterfly whose back you see represents fig. d. & the belly fig. e. came out of its hull’].
Plate 26 from Amusement microscopique, tant pour l'esprit que pour les yeux, contenant... estampes... d'apres nature...by Martin Frobene Ledermuller, plates volume (Adam Wolfgang Winterschmidt, Nuremburg, 1768).
Martin Frobene [Frobenius] Ledermuller (1719-1769) German naturalist was employed in various capacities as a notary, turning to microscope studies after an illness induced temporary deafness.
Associated place