We sold butterfly kits without causing any problems. The ones we sold were all sealed up so there weren't any issues with them escaping. In fact, visitors were encouraged to return with their butterfly and release it into the live butterfly exhibit we were hosting at the time. I'm not sure if anyone actually did that, but we carefully monitored the areas around the store and the butterfly house for issues and didn't report a rise in harmful pests. I can't speak to the cruelty of butterfly displays and kits, but I can speak to the fact that we were able to do it without increasing the risk to our collection from pest infestation. Best of luck, Rebecca ------------------------------ <https://www.smm.org/> *Rebecca Newberry* *Conservator* e: [email protected] o: (651) 265-9841
On Tue, Oct 15, 2019 at 10:21 AM Dawn, Melissa <[email protected]> wrote: > We have a new exhibit opening soon called Amazing Butterflies. There are > no live insects in the exhibit. I am in charge of IPM at our museum, and > our store manager has asked me how I feel about the museum store having > live butterflies in the store and selling butterfly kits during this > exhibit. These kits typically contain caterpillars or butterflies and have > food for the insects. In the past we had a traveling exhibit of > reptiles, and crickets that were a food source for them escaped and > infested offices. My gut instinct is to say this is not advisable, but I > would love some insight from others about why this may or may not be a good > idea. Has anyone sold live insects in their institutions or seen any > negative impacts from their display/sale? > > Melissa > > *Melissa Dawn* > > Assistant Registrar > > Division of the Humanities > > > *Museum of the Rockies* > > [email protected] > > 406.994.2242 > > 600 West Kagy Blvd. > > Bozeman, MT 59717 > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Museumpests" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/MWHPR02MB2495E2F35947C832D4E3998288930%40MWHPR02MB2495.namprd02.prod.outlook.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/MWHPR02MB2495E2F35947C832D4E3998288930%40MWHPR02MB2495.namprd02.prod.outlook.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Museumpests" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/CAJDA2SeovO678b8C5WeZr3PvVJGr_%2BWfix39fAdBvxH0Wh%3Dg-g%40mail.gmail.com.
