2024/03/01 by Lila S Cannon · 1 voice
Psychology · #Animal and Plant Science Education
paper · doi:10.1093/ae/tmae018
openalex publication_date 2024/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
An enchanting blend of plants and insects in Maria Sibylla Merian’s botanical illustration, circa 1720. Amidst the vast realms of the natural world, a microcosmos teeming with arthropod secrets exists—a world of vibrant colors, intricate patterns, and extraordinary adaptations. When the insect kingdom beckoned, one remarkable woman, Maria Sybilla Merian (1647–1717), dared to venture into their hidden universe and study their lifestyles and interactions with other living creatures. From cultivating silkworms as a young teenager to studying insect morphology and metamorphosis in Suriname, Merian was a force of nature whose seminal works helped to systemically deconstruct scientific dogma and found the discipline of entomology. (Left): Maria Sibylla Merian (Right): Bobbi Wilson (Photo by Andrew Hurley, Yale University Born on 2 April 1647 in Frankfurt, Germany, Merian was just three years of age when her father, Matthäus Merian, a renowned engraver, died (Rogers 2023). Despite Matthäus’s death early in Maria’s life, the Merian family’s artistic legacy would live on. Merian’s extraordinary drawing ability as a young child was noted by her stepfather, Jacob Marrel, an eminent German painter, who nurtured her abilities and provided her with teachers in his atelier throughout her childhood (Pomeroy and Kathirithamby 2018). Maria Sibylla Merian made foundational scientific discoveries, developed robust methods for entomology through conducting field research, and pursued ecological endeavors of great scientific importance for entomology. Her work was initially often overlooked as merely a piece of early natural philosophy. However, beginning in the 1970s and subsequent studies of scholarship in the 1980s and 1990s, a re-examination of her work, its originality, and her innovative approach and findings helped establish her pivotal role in laying the foundation for the modern field of entomology, and consequently inspired people of all ages to explore the natural world (Valiant 1992, 1993; Heard 2020). Merian’s descriptions of metamorphosis and her refutation of scientific concepts that had been long entrenched in society played a significant role in bolstering her scientific reputation. Making discoveries and disproving widely accepted scientific beliefs was not always positively received. During Merian’s lifetime, people generally accepted Aristotle’s theory of spontaneous generation, which held that living things could spring from nonliving matter. Scientists and laypeople did not realize that all insects produce eggs and thought that some insects just “spontaneously” grew out of garbage and detritus (Pomeroy and Kathirithamby 2018). Through Merian’s intensive observation, illustration, and ultimate discovery, she “saw each stage in a bug’s life cycle as a continuous process, when few other naturalists were making connections” between the caterpillar and the butterfly (Swaby 2018; Fig. 1). Merian’s fundamental scientific research on metamorphosis was a nail in the coffin of the antiquated belief in spontaneous generation. Metamorphosis of the Silkworm, Maria Sibylla Merian, 1679. (Wikimedia Commons.) CONSTANTLY SURROUNDED BY PLANTS, INSECTS, AND OTHER ANIMALS, IN ADDITION TO RECEIVING EXPLANATIONS AND WISDOM FROM THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE, MERIAN WITNESSED THE INTERCONNECTEDNESS OF ECOSYSTEMS WITH A NEW PERSPECTIVE As a result, Merian’s lifetime of field research and artistic study paved the way for the creation of essential scientific methods. At thirteen years old, Merian did not have the resources to fuel her curious mind. No books correctly explained the transitional processes she was observing in insects. She had to conduct her own research, grow her own insects, and generate her own unique hypotheses about insect development (Pomeroy and Kathirithamby 2018). To conduct studies, Merian “situated her specimens in context, capturing them crawling on leaves with curing seams, flying over flowers’ stretching tendrils, or circling around stems,” (Swaby 2018). Merian’s distinct approach to scientific observation through an artistic lens set her apart from other illustrators of the time, who solely worked from display cases. She took scrupulous notes and recorded her observations with detailed written descriptions, drawings, and paintings, all of which solidified her live observational methodologies (Pomeroy and Kathirithamby 2018, Beck 2007). Enabled by her home caterpillar farm, Merian drew “pictures in her study book that reflected not only what animals and plants looked like but how they developed” (Pomeroy and Kathirithamby 2018). Merian’s observations were limited by her own eyes and occasionally looking through a magnifying glass, as microscopy was just beginning to emerge as its own field. With this minimal available technology, the connections Merian made among plants, insects, and animals highlight how much can be learned from careful observations and meticulous record-keeping, further raising the bar for today’s entomologists, who have much more sophisticated tools at their disposal. Merian’s search for opportunities to expand her understanding of the insect world led her to pursue research abroad that set her apart from other naturalists. Merian was “astounded to see what lovely creatures were brought back from the East and West Indies” (Pomeroy and Kathirithamby 2018). These species of animals native to South America sparked her interest, so, in June of 1699, Merian, along with her daughter Dorothea, set sail from Amsterdam to Suriname (Rogers 2023). First colonized by the Dutch, Suriname was exploited for its land, and the Indigenous people were forced to work as slaves on plantations that grew sugar, coffee, cocoa, and cotton (Pomeroy and Kathirithamby 2018). While many of the colonizers came in search of wealth, Merian was interested in the knowledge that would follow from the exploration of the land’s species. Noting this difference, Merian wrote, “The [Dutch] people there have no desire to investigate such things; indeed they mocked me for seeking something other than sugar in that country” (Pomeroy and Kathirithamby 2018). She did not let this cruelty discourage her. With the help of many Indigenous women, Merian and her daughter settled into a home with a quaint garden in the colonies’ capital, Paramaribo, to take on their scientific investigations (Pomeroy and Kathirithamby 2018). Due to the warm, wet climate, home visits from a diverse collection of vibrant species were common. “Blue lizards laid eggs in the corners of rooms,” “cockroaches that ventured inside were captured for study,” and the garden often welcomed hummingbirds (Pomeroy and Kathirithamby 2018). Constantly surrounded by plants, insects, and other animals, in addition to receiving explanations and wisdom from the Indigenous people, Merian witnessed the interconnectedness of ecosystems with a new perspective (Pomeroy and Kathirithamby 2018). From her two years of consistent observation, Merian was able to publish a collection of watercolor illustrations. As shown in her painting Guava Tree with Huntsman Spider within the collection entitled Insects of Suriname, Merian vividly captured insects, their prey, and the plants in their native tropical environment (Fig. 2). No other scientific artists at the time were publishing work featuring the importance of the interconnectedness between insects and their ecosystems and elucidating predator–prey relationships (Merian 1726). The uniqueness and merit of Merian’s painted illustrations and their corresponding insightful explanations helped her gain access to the male-dominated scientific community. Guava Tree with Huntsman Spider, Orb Weaver Spider, Leaf-Cutter Ants, Army Ants, Cockroach, Tarantulas, and Hummingbird (watercolor). Maria Sibylla Merian, The Insects of Suriname, 1726. Despite the setbacks Merian faced along her scientific and artistic journeys as an orphan, a woman in 17th-century society, and a divorcee, her family’s socioeconomic positioning and national origin meant that she had access to resources that one must consider in the discussion of her success. Although Merian overcame many barriers throughout her artistic and scientific career, her privilege should not go unnoticed. Scientific exploration has been built on the backs of enslaved people, colonization, and Eurocentric ideals. Merian’s access even at a young age to an art studio set her ahead of others interested in discovery. Due to her stepfather’s profession, Merian had an advantage in both her access to artistic education and lessons on scientific observation and note-taking. Women during the 17th century were not allowed to attend art school or universities to formally study science, but Merian had the opportunity to study with her stepfather’s apprentices. She continued to benefit from her family’s wealth into her later life. While Merian “did not approve of the treatment” of the enslaved people, her research in Suriname relied on the traditional knowledge held by Native women regarding the species of insects and plants of the surrounding forests. With the aid of enslaved people, Merian was able to venture into the forest and steer clear of poisonous plants and dangerous animals (Pomeroy and Kathirithamby 2018). Merian’s life was spent observing insects and their connections to the environment through art. Unlike many other women at the time, she published her findings in many series of collections such as The Caterpillar Book, volumes one, two, and three (Pomeroy and Kathirithamby 2018). In these publications, readers can observe how Merian refined her understanding of insect development and unraveled the interdependencies of living creatures across the tree of life. Beyond her scientific achievements, Merian was cognizant of her great privilege and actively worked to end oppressive systems in the Americas by hiring enslaved people, showing her willingness to confront the small-scale challenges of the emerging field of entomology as well as the large-scale problems facing society (Pomeroy and Kathirithamby 2018). Merian entered the scientific world as a young German girl trying to explore the natural world through an artistic lens. However, she transformed the scientific community with her curiosity for the insect world, and her legacy lives on through the fresh young minds exploring the possibilities of scientific discovery at their fingertips. A modern-day Merian named Bobbi Wilson has recently emerged from her own chrysalis. Wilson’s intrepid curiosity about spotted lanternflies and the insect world has helped her gracefully transcend the barriers of race and gender that sought to extinguish her emerging interests in entomology at the young age of nine (Poitras 2023). While Merian’s full life came to an end centuries ago, her legacy lives on, and Bobbi Wilson’s life in science is just beginning to unfold. Top: Bobbi Wilson labelling lanternflies. Bottom: Bobbi Wilson and her parents (Both photos by Andrew Hurley, Yale University). ALTHOUGH BORN FOUR CENTURIES APART, CONSIDERATION OF MERIAN AND WILSON HIGHLIGHTS THE RACIAL AND GENDER INEQUALITIES THAT STILL PLAGUE SCIENCE TODAY. Reflecting on Merian’s life and her passion for arthropods shines a light on the story of Bobbi Wilson, a young Black girl with a fascination for spotted lanternflies, who was wrongfully reported to local police by a neighbor while harvesting specimens from the sidewalk of her neighborhood (Poitras 2023). This report was an overt act of racism. Bobbi, a 9-year-old girl, was reported as an adult Black woman by a White neighbor, Gordon Lawshe. It was stated that “Lawshe saw something scary. Recognizing it was not an emergency per se, he called the police department dispatcher instead. ‘There’s a little Black woman walking, spraying stuff on the sidewalks and trees on Elizabeth and Florence,’ Lawshe told the dispatcher. ‘I don’t know what the hell she’s doing. Scares me, though,’ Lawshe added” (Romo 2023). The adultification of young Black children has been a dangerously common practice across the United States and still persists today. Racial profiling puts children at risk for trauma and police violence. While the police officers involved handled the situation calmly, the experience is extremely impactful at a personal and societal level, as it shows the obstacles a Black girl encounters while following her passion for science. Although born four centuries apart, consideration of Merian and Wilson highlights the racial and gender inequalities that still plague science today. Both Merian and Wilson remind us that scientific discovery is attainable and literally right at one’s doorstep if one has an inquisitive mind and determined spirit, but hurdles persist. Challenging 17th-century scientific tenets or being a young Black girl showing interest in science in the 21st century can be seen as threatening by some members of society. Today, individuals at scientific institutions must all actively strive to break down structural inequities in scientific education and make scientific discovery a more accessible and inclusive space. The author would like to thank Lawrence Gall, Ph.D., for discussions, Jennifer Barrer-Gall and Kelly Morrow for reading the manuscript and helpful suggestions, and Stephen Lory, Ph.D., for encouraging journal submission.