b-fly releases at events

[Mike Soukup]

No, it's not really beneficial - in most cases.

When one raises an insect, it is no longer subject to the naturally
occurring destructive forces of nature - predation, disease, weather -
that sort of thing.  In nature, very few of the critters ever make it to
being an adult.  When reared, most make it (if done properly)  Mother
nature doesn't kill off 99% of the caterpillar population naturally for
no reason....she is trying to maintain the "most fit" to survive in
nature.  When you release "unfit" adults, you introduce diseases, faulty
genes, and a whole host of other problems into the system.

That being said, I also think that 99% of the released critters are
almost immediately destroyed once released.  In Britain, they have been
trying to re-introduce and boost populations of their bugs for years now
- with varying degrees of success (many more failures than successes). 
The bottom line is...."helping out" doesn't really "help out".  

The only way to truly help the bugs is to conserve the habitat.  Period.



-- 
Mike Soukup
mikayak at ix.netcom.com
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