'Om naauwkeuriger onderzoekinge te doen'. Siproeta stelenes, Malachite Butterfly, Natura Artis Magistra, Amsterdam, The Netherlands"
This beautiful Malachite Butterfly was classified and given its scientific name by Carolus Linnaeus (1758) and Jacob Hübner (1761-1826; in 1823); as far as I can gather, Hübner devised 'Siproeta' for what Linnaeus called 'Papilio stelenes'. It's curious that these men get the credit for classifying our Malachite Green Wonder.
Well before their work, intrepid Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717), fine artist and excellent naturalist, had traveled to Surinam specifically as she herself writes 'om naauwkeuriger onderzoekinge te doen' - to do more precise research than possible in Europe - especially on exotic plants and insects. She published her magnificent results back in Holland in 1705. One of the first detailed descriptions and paintings in her wonderful Metamorphosis insectorum surinamensium is of a Pineapple and a Malachite in its various stages of development. Engagingly Merian writes about finding a caterpilar on that Pineapple in early May 1700; by May 10 it had transformed itself into a pupa and by the 18th it emerged as a Butterfly. She lovingly illustrates each of these stages. She's far more readable than the stark one-line Latin prose of either Linnaeus or Hübner. It must be said though that Linnaeus at least refers to her ('Merian. surin. 2.t.2') in the abbreviated shorthand which is his habit even if modern authors don't.
As for the Pineapple, Merian writes that 'the taste of this fruit is as if one mixes grapes, apricots, red berries, apples and pears, which can then all be relished at the same time'.
PS I have no idea how Hübner came up with 'Siproeta'. The best guess I have is that there may be by way of C[S]iproeta some connection to the Greek Κύπρος, for the isle of Cyprus perhaps for its copper ore deposits. Copper oxide is, of course, green, which would fit Malachite well! Likely far-fetched, though.
Oh, yes... as an afterthought, our Malachite's food plant here in the Butterfly House of the Amsterdam Zoo is Lantana camara, Tickberry, that pantropical pestweed! The photo doesn't show the color of its flower but it's white and yellow.
'Om naauwkeuriger onderzoekinge te doen'. Siproeta stelenes, Malachite Butterfly, Natura Artis Magistra, Amsterdam, The Netherlands"
This beautiful Malachite Butterfly was classified and given its scientific name by Carolus Linnaeus (1758) and Jacob Hübner (1761-1826; in 1823); as far as I can gather, Hübner devised 'Siproeta' for what Linnaeus called 'Papilio stelenes'. It's curious that these men get the credit for classifying our Malachite Green Wonder.
Well before their work, intrepid Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717), fine artist and excellent naturalist, had traveled to Surinam specifically as she herself writes 'om naauwkeuriger onderzoekinge te doen' - to do more precise research than possible in Europe - especially on exotic plants and insects. She published her magnificent results back in Holland in 1705. One of the first detailed descriptions and paintings in her wonderful Metamorphosis insectorum surinamensium is of a Pineapple and a Malachite in its various stages of development. Engagingly Merian writes about finding a caterpilar on that Pineapple in early May 1700; by May 10 it had transformed itself into a pupa and by the 18th it emerged as a Butterfly. She lovingly illustrates each of these stages. She's far more readable than the stark one-line Latin prose of either Linnaeus or Hübner. It must be said though that Linnaeus at least refers to her ('Merian. surin. 2.t.2') in the abbreviated shorthand which is his habit even if modern authors don't.
As for the Pineapple, Merian writes that 'the taste of this fruit is as if one mixes grapes, apricots, red berries, apples and pears, which can then all be relished at the same time'.
PS I have no idea how Hübner came up with 'Siproeta'. The best guess I have is that there may be by way of C[S]iproeta some connection to the Greek Κύπρος, for the isle of Cyprus perhaps for its copper ore deposits. Copper oxide is, of course, green, which would fit Malachite well! Likely far-fetched, though.
Oh, yes... as an afterthought, our Malachite's food plant here in the Butterfly House of the Amsterdam Zoo is Lantana camara, Tickberry, that pantropical pestweed! The photo doesn't show the color of its flower but it's white and yellow.