NewsLifeThis drawing is the oldest known sketch of an insect brainFound in a 17th century manuscript, the illustration shows the brain of a honeybee drone This drawing by Johannes Swammerdam shows the brain of a honeybee drone. It's the oldest known image of an insect brain.A. Strazzoni/Royal Society Notes and Records 2025By Tina Hesman Saey39 seconds agoAfter nearly 350 years, a depiction of a bees brain is getting some buzz.A manuscript created in the mid-1670s contains the oldest known depiction of an insects brain, historian of science Andrea Strazzoni of the University of Turin in Italy reports January 29 in Royal Society Notes and Records. Handwritten by Dutch biologist and microscopist Johannes Swammerdam, the manuscript contains a detailed description and drawing of a honeybee drones brain.The illustration, based on his own dissections, was just one of Swammerdams firsts. In 1658, he was also the first to see and describe red blood cells.