Item PZ 50.2 Watercolour and pencil illustration - Cicada moerens, The Great Black, or Manna Cicada, and Cyclochila australasiae, The Great Green Cicada, by Arthur Bartholomew

Summary

Watercolour and pencil illustration (D600) of male and female Redeye Cicada, Psaltoda moerens and Greengrocer, Cyclochila australasiae, by Arthur Bartholomew, 26 May 1880. This work was commissioned by Frederick McCoy, the first Director of The National Museum of Victoria, for Plate 50 in The Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria; Figures and descriptions of the living species of all classes of the Victoria indigenous animals. McCoy originally referred to these species as Cicada moerens, The Great Black, or Manna Cicada, and Cyclochila australasiae, The Great Green Cicada.

Bartholomew's iillustration forms part of the much larger Prodromus Collection. Many of the original illustrations and prints in the collection informed the production of The Prodromus, the first major publication of the National Museum of Victoria. Between 1878 and 1890, McCoy published his zoology 'Prodromus' as 20 parts in two volumes, with each part comprising 20 Plates. Unfortunately, almost 90 plates in the collection remain unpublished, and hundreds of illustrations were either not completed or not printed.

Description of Content

Redeye/Greengrocer, Psaltoda moerens/Cyclochila australasiae by Arthur Bartholomew. Drawing, pencil, watercolour and ink on paper, 26 May 1880, 29cm x 19cm. Drawing for Plate 50 in The Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria by Frederick McCoy.