Common milkweed locusts

Common milkweed locusts (Phymateus morbillosus) previously depicted as Gryllus morbillosus from a page in Edward Donovan's 'An epitome of the natural history of the insects of China'. The book features over a hundred new, singular and beautiful species, some of which were important in medicine and domestic economy at the time.

Edward Donovan (1768-1837) was a natural history illustrator, amateur zoologist and writer. The figures in these books are accurately drawn, engraved and coloured from specimens of the insects. Donovan based the text and illustrations for this book on information shared with him by George Macartney, Britain’s first envoy to China.