Lepidochromy
Lepidochromy, sometimes called "nature printing", is a technique used to preserve the natural coloration of butterfly and moth wings by transferring the wing scales onto a flat surface, typically paper or glass, coated with adhesive.[1][2] This technique has been used by entomologists and naturalists to document Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) without having to preserve entire specimens. The first known uses of this technique were by the Dutch painter and naturalist Otto Marseus van Schrieck in the 17th century.[1][3] During the 20th century, the technique declined in use and was eventually abandoned.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Mandrij, V. E. (2024). "'More True to Nature Than Paintings': Lepidochromy and the Color of Butterflies". In Mandrij, V. E.; Simonini, Giulia (eds.). Insects and colors between art and natural history. Boston: Brill. pp. 75–113. doi:10.1163/9789004684553_004. ISBN 978-90-04-68455-3.
- ^ a b Ceríaco, Luis M. P.; Zacca, Thamara; de Menezes, Helen F.; Perestrelo, Sofia; Santos, Bruna S.; Ferreira, Raul Nascimento; Bívar-de-Sousa, António; Mielke, Olaf Hermann Hendrik (26 June 2025). "'Lepidoptera Fluminensis', a forgotten eighteenth-century lepidochromy book on Brazilian moths and butterflies". Natural History Collections and Museomics. 2: 1–102. doi:10.3897/nhcm.2.153540.
- ^ Mandrij, V. E. (3 November 2021). "Painted by nature, printed by artists: Butterfly materials in the work of Otto Marseus van Schrieck and Maximilian Prüfer". Netherlands Yearbook for History of Art. 71 (1): 276–312. doi:10.1163/22145966-07101011.