The Most Significant Entomologist You've Never Heard Of

 by Imogen B

Portrait of Maria Sibylla Merian, 1679

Today it's common knowledge that butterflies and caterpillars are the same species, undergoing metamorphosis to reach sexual maturity. However, this has only been common knowledge for a surprisingly short length of time. In the 17th century, Maria Sibylla Merian was the first entomologist to document such a phenomenon.

Merian was born into a family of Belgian painters who taught her how to paint from an early age. Influenced largely by her step father, the subject matter of her early art was plants, as was popular at the time, as well as insects. Her interest in insects went beyond the subject of her artwork as she kept many to study and breed. At the age of 13, she was rearing silkworms when she decided to study whether any other caterpillars were capable of producing silk. This led her to discover that caterpillars metamorphosed into butterflies.

Merian’ discovery of the butterfly life cycle and other studies of insects contradicted the commonly held belief in the West that insects spawned through spontaneous generation. This is a concept predating Aristotle, who wrote about it, that stated that certain animals simply spawned in their environment without the need for sexual reproduction. In the case of insects, it was believed that they simply appeared from rotten food, as well as in dirty or dusty conditions. It was believed in Christian countries that spontaneous generation was the work of the devil and thus it was a commonly held belief that insects were creatures of the devil.

Due to Merian’s work, however, we know this to be untrue.

In 1699, Merian set out on a scientific expedition to Surinam, accompanied by her youngest daughter Dorothea. The trip was entirely self-funded and spanned two years. There, she studied and sketched the local animals and plants, describing them by their local names. Some believe that her trip was sponsored by the Dutch West India Company, despite her book Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium making no acknowledgement of this. In her subsequent publishing on her expedition, she criticises the colonial merchants desire to only grow sugar despite the region’s biodiversity, a lesson relevant to modern farmers whose intensive farming produces monocultures which in turn destroys habitats and weakens ecosystems. Her criticism of the colonial merchants makes it very unlikely that she was sponsored by them. She also condemned the treatment of enslaved people by the colonial merchants. Her work often featured the uses of plants, and for the peacock flower, she described how the seeds were used by the Dutch to perform abortions on indigenous enslaved people. Due to becoming ill with what was possibly malaria, she returned to the Netherlands. She subsequently published a book on her findings and opened a shop, selling specimens and engravings of plant and animal life from Surinam. In 1715, she survived a stroke and continued to work for two years until dying at the age of 69.

Maria Sibylla Merian’s discovery continues to be so important and so well known, yet when we learn about the life cycles of animals in primary education, we are taught nothing about the context of her discovery. I believe this is a major disservice and lost opportunity to teach children about the nature of the field of science. At that age, we were taught that science is set in stone and objective. It is much later that we discover our understanding of science is constantly evolving, with debates and opposing theories shaping what we believe. Although we are taught about the lifecycle of butterflies, frogs, jellyfish, etc, we are not taught how recent Merian’s discovery was. This is a great opportunity to teach children about how our perception and understanding of the world is constantly changing.

Female scientists are so frequently overlooked in education. A large part of this is due to the historical restrictions on women’s education, which inevitably lead to more men making advancements in science. Particularly at GCSE, we learn of these discoveries as part of the curriculum and so men’s scientific successes are ingrained into our collective minds. As a result, the scientific capability of women is underrepresented and girls are less likely to pursue science due to the lack of role models. While obviously women have achieved great things in science, girls shouldn’t have to fight to find female role models in place of the men who saturate the field. This is why I believe it is so important that children are taught about Merian alongside her discovery, allowing young girls to realise their potential in science as well as widening all students’ perceptions of who exactly a scientist can be.