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Half height banner for Maria Merian exhibition, showing a butterfly
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MARIA SIBYLLA MERIAN (1647-1717)

Branch of Willow with Red Underwing and Puss Moths

c.1705?

RCIN 921222

This watercolour shows the life cycles of the Puss Moth (Cerura vinula) and Red Underwing Moth (Catocala nupta), both of which feed on willow. Merian understood the importance of individual plants to different insects, and the depiction of her subjects on the correct host plants was central to her work.

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