Red shouldered stick insect, Tropidoderus rhodomus

This lithographic proof was commissioned by Sir Frederick McCoy, Director of Museum Victoria as part of his zoological research. It forms part of the much larger Prodromus Collection. Many of the original illustrations in the collection informed the production of the two-volume work The Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria which was Museum Victoria's first major publication beginning in 1878.This image was finally published as Plates 69 and 70 in the Prodromus. In addition to the published plates there is a significant collection of insect drawings by Arthur Bartholomew. With a few exceptions these images focus on the order Lepidoptera: moths and butterflies. For almost forty years insect larvae were collected along with their host plants and brought to the laboratory for illustration. Bartholomew would faithfully illuminate each life stage of the insect, noting the date of each successive metamorphosis. When the perfect imago (adult insect) emerged, the species would be identified by William Kershaw, pinned and entered into the entomology collection.The Prodromus project followed a popular formula of the time, seeking to identify and classify the natural wonders of the 'new world'. Such publications reached a peak in popularity with the work of John Gould in England and the earlier work of James Audubon in America. In Australia, many professional and amateur publications, including Aldine's systematic studies of the colonies and Louise Anne Meredith's Bush Friends From Tasmania, contributed to the genre.The publication of the Prodromus was an enormous undertaking, utilising the work of numerous artists, collectors, lithographers and publishers, over an extended period of time. Although costly in both financial and professional terms, it was met with critical acclaim and wide popular support. Financial battles were waged and lost by McCoy, but ultimately the Prodromus has stood the test of time and remains one of Museum Victoria's finest publications. McCoy died without completing his systematic study, but even at the time few believed that 'any of us will live to witness the completion of the work, if the entire Fauna of Victoria is to be illustrated.'