Illustration from the first edition of Maria Sibylla Merian's pioneering Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium (1705), a compilation of sixty elaborate engravings of New World plants, animals, and insects. Merian had travelled to Dutch Surinam in 1699 to study and record the tropical insects, a trip she self-funded, an unusual practice at the time, especially for a woman. (Source: Smithsonian Libraries via Biodiversity Heritage Library)