author
John Traherne Moggridge
1842–1874
A gifted Victorian naturalist, he brought unusual patience and sharp observation to the study of plants, ants, and trap-door spiders. His books pair careful science with a strong visual eye, making his work feel lively as well as precise.
2 Audiobooks
Supplement to Harvesting Ants and Trap-Door Spiders
by John Traherne Moggridge, Octavius Pickard-Cambridge
Harvesting Ants and Trap-Door Spiders Notes and Observations on Their Habits and Dwellings
by John Traherne Moggridge
About the author
Born on March 8, 1842, John Traherne Moggridge was a British botanist, entomologist, and arachnologist. He became known for close, careful field observation and was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London.
Moggridge worked on the flora of the Mediterranean region and wrote on plant fertilisation, but he is especially remembered for Harvesting Ants and Trap-Door Spiders, a study of insect and spider behavior that helped make these subjects vivid to a wider audience. His scientific work was closely tied to his skill as an illustrator, and his paintings of the plants of southern France were also published.
He died young, on November 24, 1874, at just 32. Even so, his combination of natural history, careful description, and illustration left a lasting mark on nineteenth-century field science.