Papilion. exotic. Fig. 1. Ascanius. / Fig. 2. Antimachus / Tab. XXII.

Title

Papilion. exotic. Fig. 1. Ascanius. / Fig. 2. Antimachus / Tab. XXII.

Description

Two illustrations of butterflies of the genus Parides Ascanius and a Papilio Antimachus (African Giant Swallowtail) of the family Papilionidae.

ca. 1782

Artist

Esper (1742-1810)

Eugen Johann Christoph Esper (1742 -1810 ) Erlangen, was a German entomologist, botanist, pathologist and mineralogist. Esper and his brother Johann Friedrich Esper (1732-1781) were introduced to natural history at an early age by their father Friedrich Lorenz Esper, a great nature lover and botanist. In his spare time, Esper devoted himself to the study of nature and the preparation of his manuscripts on natural history. He was the author of a series of books and monographs, such as- Die Schmetterlinge in Abbildungen nach der Natur mit Beschreibungen (1776-1807)-. These were richly illustrated: Minerals, birds, plants, shells and insects on 438 colored hand-drawn plates. Esper was also the first to research palaeopathology and is considered the founder of this important branch of pathology. He was elected a member of the Leopoldina in 1789.

Historical Description

With more than 160,000 described species, butterflies are the second most diverse order of insects after beetles (Coleoptera). In superstition, butterflies were even regarded as the embodiment of witches who were after the cream, which is also indicated by the earlier regional names for butterflies such as milk thief, whey stealer or similar. The English term butterfly points in the same direction and corresponds to the regional terms butterbird, butterbird, butterlicker, as the animals were attracted by churning butter. The word butterfly only became generally accepted in the second half of the 18th century. Until then, this order of insects was still called "day birds" (for butterflies) or "night birds" (for moths) according to Rösel von Rosenhof (1749). Butterflies go through a cycle of unusual shape changes during their lifetime. Eggs develop into flightless "caterpillars", which grow considerably while feeding intensively. At the end of the caterpillar stage, they transform into a more solid shell, the so-called "pupa". In the pupa, they form wings and transform into the flying form, the so-called "moth".