Apis amphibia, Cicada, Cimex, Cimices sylvestres, Tipulae... The insects now known as Hemiptera, in Ulisse Aldrovandi's De Animalibus Insectis (1602)

The great naturalist from Bologna, Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522-1605), is an important representative of scientific humanism in the late Renaissance: his activity was largely characterized by the re-elaboration of the knowledge of the Classical World and the Middle Ages. In his entomological work De Animalibus Insectis Libri Septem (1602), his interest for certain topics of morphological, functional, systematic and ecological character as well as for practical (e.g. medical) topics is notable also with regard to the insects we today call Hemiptera or Rhynchota. Of the many insects treated and illustrated by Aldrovandi in his book, a certain number are clearly those now known as Hemiptera. As regards these, much space is dedicated to cicadas, bed-bug and other bugs. Aldrovandi's woodcuts of these insects are among the earliest illustrations to be found in printed works. In the 16 super(th) century Aldrovandi's volumes with original watercolours preserved together his manuscripts in the University Library of Bologna, we can see the fresher, true to life illustrations of insects which served as a model for the woodcuts; not all the insects portrayed in the water-colours are, however, treated and reproduced in the book.