At a time when few women were educated or literate – and rarely travelled – German-born naturalist and artist Maria Sibylla Merian (1647–1717) made history with her studies of insects in Surinam. She documented the metamorphosis of butterflies, laying the foundation for modern entomology. She studied the tropical flora and fauna of Surinam, and illustrated the stages of insect development, arranged around the cultivated and wild plants she had encountered on her travels in Insects of Surinam. 

I was lent this book by a client and asked to take insects from it and use it for inspiration while creating this Empress Hobo. 

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