Dissertation sur la génération et les transformations des insectes de Surinam

Born into a family of German artists, Maria Sibylla Merian became a self-taught entomologist at a young age. At 13 she raised and observed silkworms, then moved on to a more general study of caterpillars, recording their cocoon, pupa, larval, and adult stages. She also studied painting and engraving with the encouragement of her stepfather. Merian began to publish books on natural history in her mid-20s. She was ahead of her time in working with live insects, using color accurately, and representing insects’ full life cycles, including eggs, at a time when many believed that caterpillars spontaneously generated. Merian traveled to Suriname with her younger daughter in 1699 to study the country’s flora and fauna, such as these spiders capable of killing small birds (lower left corner). She became ill and had to return from South America earlier than planned, but continued to work until the end of her life, 16 years later.