Catocala nupta. Squamae alae. (Wing scales of red underwing moth)

Ernst Heeger was a 19th century Austrian entomologist who in 1860-61 made a series of historically important microphotographs of zoological specimens, printing them in collaboration with Aloïs Auer, the innovative head of printing at the Austrian Imperial-Royal Court and State Press. Prior to realizing that photography could improve the accuracy of his representations, Heeger had depicted his specimens via drawing. His greatly magnified photographic images were made with a solar microscopic camera. They magnificently depict magnified details of insects, such as the jaws of a horse fly, the tongue of a leopard slug, the foot of a house fly, the hindwing of an earwig, and in this case the scales of the wings of a Red Underwing Moth. They also make up the world’s first extensive use of solar microscopy. Heeger produced small numbers of prints from his negatives, which he then on occasion hand-colored, such as this example, with watercolor or goauche.