Early (17th and 18th centuries) drawings of lantern-flies and mentions of their bioluminescence (Fulgora spp., Hemiptera, Homoptera, Fulgoridae)

Abstract

For many years it was believed that the first two notices about New World lantern-flies (Fulgoridae), with descriptions and illustrations of the insects, as well as mentions of their luminescence, were due to Nehemiah Grey (1681) and Maria Sibylla Merian (1705). However, there are illustrations of lantern-flies prior to Grew’s paper, and the first of them, by Jacques de Heyn (1620), also refers to the bioluminescence of those insects. The second is a watercolour by Pieter Holstejn (1614-1673), a Dutch Golden Age painter and engraver. Several illustrations of lantern-flies were lately produced during the 17th and 18th centuries, for example by Alexander Marshal (ca. 1620-1682), an English entomologist, gardener and botanical artist, by Iob Leutholf (1694), and also by an anonymous artist (first half of the 18th century).

Keywords

• Fulgora
• Early drawings
• Jacques de Heyn
• Pieter Holstejn
• Alexander Marshal
• Iob Leutholf