Panagaeus Cruxmajor Darwin's Lost Beetle
by Paul D Stewart
Title
Panagaeus Cruxmajor Darwin's Lost Beetle
Artist
Paul D Stewart
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
From Donovan's Natural History of British Insects" (plate by Donovan, volume circa 1806). Greater crucifix beetle, Panagaeus cruxmajor, on a grass stem. This rare European ground beetle was a prize for any 19th century collector. In a letter to his old friend Leonard Jenyns (17 Oct 1846) Darwin recounted an incident as an Undergraduate at Cambridge University where he saw "the sacred Panagaeus crux major" Having collected a carabid beetle in each hand already he was forced to free a hand by placing one of the beetles between his teeth. Unfortunately the beetle was able to squirt a highly acrid afluid, and in spitting it out he lost all three."
Uploaded
May 12th, 2013
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