How Can Killing Butterflies Possibly Help Them?
The trade in deadstock ("pinned" butterflies for collectors) can have a serious adverse effect on insect populations--but only when the species' habitat has already been severely reduced. Most of the rarest species come from tropical forests, which are under tremendous pressure from population growth and development. The butterfly trade helps by providing an economic incentive to preserve the insects' wild habitat.
Dr. Michael J. Parsons, Scientific Director of the Molecular Taxonomy Research Laboratory at the University of Florida and an expert on butterfly conservation, strongly agrees. In some extremely localized parts of Papua New Guinea, the Queen Alexandra's Birdwing butterfly is quite common. In those areas, says Dr. Parsons, "there's no reason for local people not to tap into it [by farming specimens for collectors]. In fact," he adds, "I now think that's the only hope for it."
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