Vines and Climbers: Aristolochia fan with a rather odd ethical question..., 1 by TexasPuddyPrint

TexasPuddyPrint wrote:
Bless you for taking the time to release bugs and such that find their way indoors :o)

I think that anyone who purchases a specimen is promoting their demise. If there wasn't a demand for them then they wouldn't be killed by people trying to make a buck.

Just think of this...only about 2% of the eggs a butterfly oviposits will make it to adulthood. Predators (humans included), lack of larval hosts, accidents (like running into a windshield), weather etc...all play a part in their demise. Some butterflies lay only a few eggs while other may lay a couple hundred. I prefer to do all I can to ensure their safety.

As a member of NABA (North American Butterfly Association) and several local butterfly parks I strongly believe in butterfly conservation and try to do my best to provide larval hosts and nectaring plants so I can sit back and enjoy the beauty of having butterflies lay eggs, watch caterpillars grow and see more butterflies frequent my yard.

I know if it wasn't for the scientistics and collectors from days gone by we wouldn't have the knowledge from all their studies...but there really isn't a need to kill and collect them now. There are excellent photographs available. Our area has many lepidopterists who have their own websites to show off the butterflies they've photographed.

I had a nasty run in with some collectors who came from out of town specifically to collect/kill a rare butterfly that had been sighted here. They said they needed it for DNA verification of the species.

Last year I found several weird looking/unknown caterpillars feeding on my duranta plant. I got calls from scientists/collectors who wanted me to hand over a couple of caterpillars for study (which literally meant they were going to be dissected). On the other hand I had butterfliers who wanted me to ensure their safety and complete the life cycle.

I ended up putting locks on my gates and asked a local butterfly expert to come take them from my yard and raise them. Butterfly conservationsists and butterfly lovers were invited to take photographs of their growth stages from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly. They were also invited to come and photograph the release of each butterfly.

A few days after one of the releases a female was in my yard laying eggs once again!!! (We believe in releasing the butterfly in the same location the caterpillar was found)

On a sad note...the collectors did end up finding and killing one butterfly that I know of...no telling if they got more for their own private jollies.

However, on a much happier note...several other caterpillars were found on similar plant species a few weeks later in a couple of other locations around town. When our area had the annual butterfly festival a lot of people that came from all over the US were thrilled to see, photograph and add the rare marius hairstreak to their life list of butterflies sighted. A few were also lucky enough to photograph an ovipositing female!

Yes...I believe we should all do what we can to save every egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and butterfly for everyone else to enjoy.

~ Cat