A complete set of uniformly brilliant impressions of this magnificent series of etchings, all in their first state. The decorative title shows an ornamental cartouche surrounded by insects, with the text inn an oval. The plates show, amongst others, grasshoppers, moths, butterflies, caterpillars, beetles, dragonflies, a bumble bee, and a wasp. They appear to be the first work executed by Hollar after his escape from Basing-House, when he at once adjourned to Antwerp, joining there his noble patron, the Earl of Arundel, whose valuable collection has also been transported to Antwerp.

"Hollar copied the images, as he states on the title, from a set of coloured drawings in the Arundel Collection, which could possibly be the volume of drawings in colour of birds etc. listed in the Towneley sale of 1818, and there attributed (by the auctioneer?) to H. Thomas Moufet or Moffet, who has previously issued a similar book of butterflies and insects 'Insectorum sive minimorum animalium theatrum', London, 1634. Such reprsentations of insects were not uncommon in early seventeenth century Dutch works on natural history. What may more have influenced H[ollar] is 'Diverse insectorum volatilium icones ad vivum... depictae per... D.I. Hoefnagel, published by N. Visscher in 1630" (Pennington).