Too young to collect?

[Kenelm Philip]

	To support the comments by Grehan, Richers, and Adams:

> arent children in 4th grade a little young to be doing the work that
> college students sometimes have trouble learning?                                       

The only answer to this rhetorical question is NO!!. I know some adult
lepidopterists whose spreading is sloppy (by my standards)--so I guess
college students are too young as well? I began collecting in the 2nd
grade, and learned to spread specimens with no great trouble (although
it was much later that I learned to relax and set dried specimens, having
had no need to do that while collecting near home).

I would agree that attempting to 'push' insect collecting on very young
people who have no real interest in insects may be a waste of the
educator's time. Observation and photography are certainly worth
encouraging. But a kid is entranced by the idea of collecting, one
should make the equipment and techniques available at almost any age.

> Most modest collectors will admit that it takes years to learn how to
> properly mount lepidoptera to what an experienced entomologist would
> consider "professional"

Guess I'm not a modest collector. Any reasonably dexterous person from
grade school through adult can learn 'professional'-quality mounting in
a few days. The main factor (given a good mentor or reference book) is
motivation and interest...

> Many collectors with any love of the environment who hold collections feel
> that taking butterflies or moths without using the proper mounting and
> storage techniques is just throwing away a living animal. It is a waste.

First of all, one has to learn the techniques. Second, even major museums
sometime lose specimens owing to infestations or other deleterious cond-
itions. That's no reason for not having collections. Third, collecting is
a very minor source of 'waste' compared to habitat destruction/degredation
and predation, not to mention agriculture and other such factors.

> Many lepidopterists also feel that people who hold collections and are not
> affiliated with a university or museum or such are also wasting the
> environment, even if they house a collection that rivals the most        
> respected.  If noone learns or sees the collection but the collector
> it is truly a waste.

I agree that people holding collections (especially major collections)
should make every effort to leave them to a musuem--that is the chief
method by which museums add to their holdings. But one can collect for
a lifetime without having any such affiliation, and still give to a
museum. Furthermore, if one has a passionate personal interest in insects,
I see no problem with compiling a collection for one's own use, as long
as there is no significant impact on the species involved.

	In my own case, I had been collecting in Alaska for 6 years before
I developed an affiliation with the NMNH (not to mention collecting for
34 years in the lower 48 states). I do not agree that I spent 40 years
'wasting the environment'! In fact, the Alaska Lepidoptera Survey collec-
tion contains irreplaceable information relevant to attempts to _preserve_
the environment.

	It is clear that many people strenuously object to deliberate kil-
ling of certain groups of insects for one's personal interest. Fine--then
don't do it. Other people find collecting insects to be fascinating, whether
for science or 'just a hobby'. Let them do it--they're not about to stop
because other people preach at them...

							Ken Philip
fnkwp at uaf.edu