Thursday, 13 May, 2021 - 05:15
FILE - A monarch butterfly clings to a plant at the Monarch Grove Sanctuary in Pacific Grove, California, Dec. 30, 2014. Reuters
London - Asharq Al-Awsat
A Librarian found a 400-year-old butterfly pressed between the pages of an ancient library book.
According to The Metro, the perfectly preserved small tortoiseshell specimen was found inside a 1634 copy of Theatre of Insects, Britain's earliest tome on the subject.
Librarian Jenni Lecky-Thompson, who made the discovery at Trinity Hall, Cambridge University, said: "It is common to find botanical specimens inside old books, but unusual to find an insect specimen. This one could have been put there by the first owner back in the 17th century. If so it is amazing it has survived there for so long."