Abraham Mignon
Marrel's stepdaughter Maria Sibylla Merian (1647–1717), daughter of the engraver Matthew Merian, who lived with Marrel and thus studied with Mignon, achieved distinction as a flower painter. Besides Merian, his other pupil was Ernst Stuven. He left two daughters when he died; Catharina and Anna.
Maria Sibylla Merian
While Merian's depiction of insects' life cycle was innovative in its accuracy, it was her observations on the interaction of organisms that became her major contribution to the emerging field of ecological studies. The depiction of insects and their plant hosts not only set Merian's work apart from that of the classic by Swammerdam and Francis Willughby, but also the work of her countrymen and contemporaries such as Georg Rumphius. Merian was the first to show that each stage of the change from caterpillar to butterfly depended on a small number of plants for its nourishment. She noted that as a consequence, the eggs were laid near these plants. In her description she commented on the environmental factors that influenced the growth of insects. On caterpillars she noted that the size of their larvae increased by the day if they had enough food. "Some then attain their full size in several weeks: others can require up to two months."