UF RECEIVES $4.2 MILLION GIFT FROM A COLLECTOR

[Todd Redhead]

The anti-collecting crowd are getting more and more organized.  Up here in
Ontario it is now illegal to collect (read kill) monarchs and all of the
Papilio family.  Black Swallowtails are a dime a dozen early in the season
even right in metro Toronto.  I can only immagine what could happen to a
collector who has a nice pair of Black Swallowtails in his collection or
maybe a young entomology who chose to study the life cycle of a monarch.
(It was a science project of mine in grade 7, I think.)  See the following
report from a member of the Ontario Entomology Society which refers to the
new 'laws' in Ontario.
 
Todd
 
P.S. Next thing you know Colias eurythem will be 'protected'!
 
 
"On Saturday, a sometimes noisy meeting of the Toronto Entomologists'
Association was held at the Royal Ontario Museum. Our guest speaker
outlined the new regulations concerning invertebrates under our new Fish
and Wildlife Conservation Act. As noted earlier, among the 13
"specially-protected species" is the monarch.
 
The speaker indicated that he had received many inquiries from members
of The Monarch Watch, and stated that they are looking for ways to
support those who's primary interest in studying insects is as a
hobbyist/researcher/educator. They are primarily concerned with
regulating commercial ventures. Their philosophy is that wildlife should
be left in the wild, and that no one should have the right to do
whatever they want with wildlife (the example given was embedding
monarchs on an unlimited basis in plastic).
 
Unfortunately, when the act was put together, the list of specially
protected species was included in the Act, as opposed to being appended
to the Act as regulations that could be modified. Thus this list will
not be changed or reviewed until the Act is reviewed - perhaps 3 to 5
years. The specially protected species are primarily "showy" species,
including the monarch and all swallowtails (including the black
swallowtail - common here).
 
The speaker was quite frank about the fact that professional and amateur
entomologists in the province were not consulted. They are quite eager
to receive suggestions on how to remedy the present situation.  The
speaker was severely criticized by members of the audience for the
difficulties that have been created for those involved in the study of
insects in Ontario and the lack of public consultation."
 
 
 
 
From: Leptraps at aol.com
Reply-To: Leptraps at aol.com
To: Neil at NWJONES.DEMON.CO.UK, leps-l at lists.yale.edu
Subject: Re: UF RECEIVES $4.2 MILLION GIFT FROM A COLLECTOR
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 11:10:25 EST
 
Neil wrote:
 
 >>Do you have any evidence of the existence of the
"collectors-are-murderers"
 >>crowd?
 
There is a Collectors-are-Murderers crowd that lives in the shadows, and
they
are real. I learned this in May of 2000 when one of my bait traps destroyed
and two others were tampered with. I posted the incident on this list
resulting with a large response from the anti-collecting crowd. I was called
a "Butterfly Killer," "Butterfly Murderer" and worse. I was placed on the
same level as Adolph Hitler. I have also learned that these individuals,
much
like the antiabortion and animal rights (PETA) folks, believe that they have
the legal right to prevent, by whatever means necessary, anyone from
"killing" butterflies. Some of them actually believe that they are above the
law.
 
 >>I have been on this group for many years and I have never seen any real
 >>evidence of their existence.
 
To the best of my knowledge, there is no real group, mostly individuals who
are vehemently opposed to collecting. However, NABA takes most of the rap
for
the anti-collecting crowd, however, one of the individuals who destroyed my
trap was a member of the Lepidopterists Society. Also, I recently attended a
winter meeting of the Ohio Lepidopterists Society and I was approached by an
individual who was present when the traps was destroyed. He said that when
the traps were first discovered that these two individuals were advised not
to tamper with them. They came back to the traps a second time and destroyed
one trap and tampered with two other. He said that when he learned later
that
they were destroying the trap, he was appalled. He advise both individuals
that they would be held responsible should there be any reaction from the
owner.
 
The anti-collecting crowd is out there and they are real!
 
 >>I ask this because I am conservationist not an animal rights activist.
 >>There is a difference and I don't support the banning of collecting.
 >>I do think that some very rare species should not be collected though.
 
The word rare is very misleading, I prefer seldom encountered. Some of the
very rare species can be very common when you discover their habitat. There
are several species of butterflies and moths that I seldom find as adults, I
can however, find the early stages (larva) in abundance.
 
Cheers,
 
Leroy C. Koehn
202 Redding Road
Georgetown, KY  40324
Tele.: 502-570-9123
Cell: 502-803-5422
E-mail: Leptraps at aol.com
 
"Let's get among em"
 
 
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