Society of Entomologists of London

The members met to exhibit, identify and exchange, sell or purchase insects which were sometimes very expensive as were books.

It was a time of colonial expansion and exotica of all kinds flooded into trade centres such as London or Amsterdam.

In the 1700s people met at coffeehouses and taverns in London and several had meetings catering to specific interests.

The botanists met at the Rainbow Coffee House, Watling Street, while the entomologists met at the Swan Tavern, Exchange Alley from the 1720s.

These early entomologists, mainly interested in butterflies, formed a group and called themselves the Society of Aurelians.