Greater crucifix beetle (Panagaeus cruxmajor). This rare European ground beetle was a prize for any 19th-century collector. In a letter to his old fri

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Greater crucifix beetle (Panagaeus cruxmajor). 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 fluid, and in spitting it out he lost all three. This illustration is from Donovan's 'Natural History of British Insects' (from a volume circa 1806).

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Size: 3915px × 4464px
Photo credit: © PAUL D STEWART/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: -, 1, 1800s, 1806, 19th, animal, beetle, biological, biology, british, carabid, carabus, century, charles, colour, darwin, donovan, entomological, entomology, fauna, historical, history, illustration, insect, insects, natural, nature, rare, single, specimen, wildlife, zoological, zoology