Does it destroy the ecosystem to catch butterflies and insects?
A collector in the rainforest has a very limited chance of catching certain species. The abundance of the different species guarantees that the collector cannot harm the population more than any other predator. The same applies to any farmer or breeder who takes specimens from his or her own land. The only way to hurt a butterfly population is to destroy the host plant that the larvae (caterpillar) feed on. That means, that as long as areas where the food plants grow remain intact, butterfly populations will be stable. We do not want to promote poaching or reckless behavior that could potentially harm the environment. So the only times that we get material from collectors is if we know that neither the species nor their environment is threatened.
