Oldest pre-Linnaean butterfly manuscript discovered in Rome

A manuscript containing over 100 butterfly species, created between 1701 and 1715, has been identified as the only pre-Linnaean butterfly collection in Italy. The three-volume work, with about 400 watercolor drawings, was held anonymously at the Biblioteca Casanatense in Rome. Scientist and naturalist Marcello Romano attributed it to Messinese painter and naturalist Saverio Scilla (1673–1735). The work predates Carl Linnaeus's 1735 Systema Naturae, which first classified butterflies. Although Scilla did not fully grasp species-variety distinctions or binomial nomenclature, his detailed illustrations of butterflies, caterpillars, and chrysalises are unmatched in 18th-century precision. The discovery was presented on March 22 at the Museo di Geologia 'Gaetano Giorgio Gemellaro' in Palermo, where Romano recounted tracing the manuscript and finding two copies made by others, with watercolors replacing the actual specimens. The work comprises a lepidoptera collection, drawings, and explanatory text. Romano confirmed its existence in good condition at the Casanatense Library, calling it a 'manuscript-collection.' The manuscript will enable scientists to compare historical and contemporary ecosystems.