Article ID: CBB001553288

The Ichneumon Fly and the Equilibration of British Natural Economies in the Eighteenth Century (2015)

unapi

The parasitic ichneumon fly, discovered by European natural philosophers in the seventeenth century, remained largely unstudied until it captured the attention of Enlightenment-era natural historians. Although this sudden surge of interest has been explained as an effort to understand the natural `evil' of parasitism, the heyday of ichneumon studies was actually inspired by the political and agricultural context of late eighteenth-century Britain. British naturalists were captivated by this insect for reasons both philosophical and practical. In the providentially self-equilibrating qualities of `natural' ichneumon economies, they saw solutions to political problems of famine, dearth, national wealth, governance and excess population, in addition to finding reassurance that Enlightened confidence in nature's inherent stability and fruitfulness was not unfounded.

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Authors & Contributors
Li Causi, Pietro
Longo, Oddone
Petrunic, Josipa
Wilson, Edward O.
Wheeler, Alwyne
Tongiorgi, Paolo
Concepts
Zoology
Natural history
Natural philosophy
Botany
Collectors and collecting
Museums
Time Periods
18th century
19th century
17th century
16th century
Ancient
Early modern
Places
Great Britain
South America
Spain
Atlantic world
Bath (England)
Atlantic Ocean
Institutions
British Museum. Natural History
Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (Rome)
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