Hoverflies in Historical Books part 1

Hoverflies in Books Part 1

When I first started my blog, I found myself wondering whether hoverflies existed in old historical books.

Did they appear at all in early natural history texts?

I assumed that old identification guides might include a few illustrations, after all they were appearing in paintings (click here), but I also wanted to know whether they appeared in a scientific context as well. If they did appear in a scientific context in what way, what questions were being asked, and what were they adding to scientific debates in their day, if any. But the main question I wanted to answer was-

What is the oldest hoverfly ever recorded in print?

The printing press was invented by Johannes Gutenburg in 1440, a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium, thereby transferring the ink. This device started the printing revolution, allowing books, pamphlets and newspapers to be produced quickly and cheaply. So that was my target could I get hoverflies in print going back to the 19th…16th…15th century! Join me to discover more as I leaf through dusty shelves in search of hidden wonders.

Here is what I have uncovered so far…..

Turns out hoverflies have been making appearances in books way earlier than I ever imagined. Some of these prints I have already discussed in earlier articles so I will provide links to these for further reading as I go back through time.

My first article on hoverflies from a historical book was Volucellae and Bees, posted on my blog 3rd September 2025.

Animal Coloration: by F.E.Beddard (1892), Plate IV ‘Volucellae and Bees’ illustrated by Peter Smit and published by Swam Sonnenschein & Co.

I choose this as a starting point based purely on subject matter. It illustrated a facet of hoverflies which makes the Syrphidae group such a fascinating study which is mimicry.

                                                              Source: Internet Archive

The book added context to a debate at the time, about the relevance of Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection following the publication of the Origin of Species in 1859 and the theory proposed by H.W Bates of his mimicry in biological systems 1862.

This book can be read in full at:

https://archive.org/details/animalcoloration00bedd/page/n244/mode/1up?view=theater&q=volucella

An even older print by 24 years was found in a French book by Emile Blanchard titled ‘Metamorphoses, moeurs et instincts des insects (Insects, myriapodes, ararchines, crustaces)’ Published: Paris, G. Bailliere: in 1868. It was later adapted for English readers by P. M. Duncan F.R.S.

I extracted from this book one plate called the ‘Metamorphoses of a rat-tailed fly’, which we now know as the Common Drone fly (Eristalis tenax). The illustrator of the art was Louis Rouyer. In the translation of the book the title changed from Metamorphoses De L’Eristale Gluant which translates as ‘the Slimy Eristalis’ to ‘The Metamorphoses of the Rat-tailed Fly’, thankfully neither name used today for the adult. However, the larva still carries the name of ‘Rat-tailed maggot’ as we anthropomorphise and cogitate the comparisons to the mammal it resembles. Some people would rather re-name the larva the long-tailed maggot, which I totally agree with.

Source: Wellcome collection

The scientific debate to be drawn from this book is the emergence of an adult not through spontaneous generation, the belief of the day, but through a process known as metamorphosis.

Spontaneous generation - the historical belief that living organisms could arise directly from non-living matter, rather than pre-existing parents or seeds.

Metamorphosis - the process of transformation from an immature form to an adult form in two or more distinct stages:

This book can be read in full at:

https://wellcomecollection.org/works/km3uczhf

But then Dr.J.Whitelock got in touch about an even older book - Eleazar Albin’s 'A Natural History of English insects' (London 1720) pushing the date of the earliest hoverfly in print back a further 140 years to 1720.

The book is full of illustrated plants with observed and assumed associated larva/caterpillar, adult, and pupa. But despite most of the book being full of butterflies and moths, there is one plate illustrating a hoverfly - the White-clubbed Glasswing (Scaeva pyrastri). Interestingly this species was only given its scientific name and classification by Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus 38 years later in 1758. As such in the description below, it refers to the species as a fly and its larvae the maggot.

    Source: Internet Archive

Plate 66 shows the Adult. Larva and Pupa of White-clubbed Glasswing on a rose.

This draws on observational science, the behaviour of larva in seizing its prey, an aphid, holding it away from the leaf whilst it feeds. Whether observed behaviour, or just interpreted from earlier work by Jan Geobert (Dutch Naturalist 1617-1668), is unknown. It has since been proven that hoverflies tend to hold captured aphids aloft to prevent them from sending out chemical signals. This prevents the aphids from using pheromones to alert others, the larva’s hope being that the wind carries the chemical alert away.

This book can be read in full at:

https://archive.org/details/bp_2904246/page/n173/mode/2up

Summary

Books can offer something a single painting cannot, using the written word to formulate scientific concepts, which would have been scientifically significant back in the day for debates as they are today.

We started with Animal Coloration by F.E.Beddard (1892) who used Vollucellae as a study into mimicry, then Emile Blanchard delves into metamorphosis (1862), illustrating how a larva becomes an adult fly, before we arrive at Eleazar Albin’s observational association of insects to plants (1720). I feel privileged to have discovered them, read them, delved into their back stories, and totally fascinated to know that hoverflies do have a history.

Come back in a week or two for part 2 of the story…..

Do I find references to hoverflies in older historical books?

Which century did I get back to? – currently we end in the 18th Century. Oldest book discovered so far - Eleazer Albin’s ‘A Natural History of English Insects’ (London 1720).

While you await the next instalment, please feel free to read earlier articles published on my blog or consider subscribing to ensure you don't miss the next edition when its published.

Drop me a line if you have found any other interesting books on hoverflies yourself, current or historical I would love to hear from you.