Spiders, in Maria Sibylla Merian, Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium

Between 1699 and 1701, the naturalist and illustrator Maria Sibylla Merian worked in Surinam in South America. She was the first woman to lead a scientific expedition. When she published this image of a giant, bird-eating spider, she was denounced as a fantasist by her male peers as many of the insects she encountered were unknown to Western science. It was not until 1863 that the existence of this spider was finally accepted. Shown here: unnumbered plate