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Branch of a guava tree with leaf-cutter ants, army ants, pink-toed tarantulas, huntsman spiders, and a ruby-topaz hummingbird. Illustration by Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) from her book "Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium" (Insects of Surinam). Maria Sibylla Merian was a German-born naturalist and scientific illustrator. After living in the Dutch colony of Surinam for two years, she published her major work, Insects of Surinam, in 1705, for which she became famous. Because of her careful observations and documentation of the metamorphosis of the butterfly, she is considered among the most significant contributors to the field of entomology. Merian was one of the first naturalists to observe insects directly. The pursuit of her work in Surinam was an unusual endeavor, especially for a woman. Scientific expeditions at this period of time were not common, and Merian's unofficial, self-funded expedition raised many eyebrows. She succeeded, however, in discovering a whole range of p...