author
John Traherne Moggridge
1842–1874
A gifted Victorian naturalist, he brought unusual patience and sharp observation to the worlds of plants, ants, and spiders. His books and illustrations turn close study of nature into something vivid and surprisingly adventurous.
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 8 March 1842, John Traherne Moggridge was a British botanist, entomologist, and arachnologist who became a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London. He was admired for careful field observation and for the skill he brought to drawing and painting the organisms he studied.
Moggridge is especially remembered for his work on the flora of the French Riviera and for Harvesting Ants and Trap-Door Spiders, which helped make small, easily overlooked creatures feel fascinating to a wider readership. His scientific writing was closely tied to his illustrations, giving his work both precision and visual charm.
He died young, on 24 November 1874, but left behind a reputation as a keen and original observer of the natural world. His legacy lives on in his natural history books, his botanical art, and the species names that still preserve his name.