Thank you to everyone who shared their insights. I especially appreciate the thoughts on the the ethics and timing of raising and releasing butterflies. All of the contributions give me a lot more information to share with our museum store manager.
Much appreciated! 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 ________________________________ From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Todd Holmberg <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, October 15, 2019 3:19 PM To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [pestlist] advisability of selling live insects in a museum store? One thought that came into my head had to do with the timing of the exhibit. You were saying it's opening "soon" in Montana. I am not super familiar with how these kits work and length of each stage of a butterfly lifecycle, but I am assuming they are sent "with the ball rolling" so to speak, and can't really be kept on the shelf until it warms up next year. If the overall theoretical goal of these kits is to have people release the butterflies into nature, are people going to be raising these butterflies to see them hatch in late fall/winter in Montana? Maybe these kits have a way of taking into account climate and time of the year where they are being sold/shipped?... -Todd On Tue, Oct 15, 2019 at 3:51 PM Dawn Roberts <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: I would also recommend considering whether the species are native or non-native. Not cool to be the source of a non-native species introduction. Dawn On Tue, Oct 15, 2019 at 1:59 PM 'Rebecca Newberry' via Museumpests <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: 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/signatures/smm.png]<https://www.smm.org/> Rebecca Newberry Conservator e: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> o: (651) 265-9841 On Tue, Oct 15, 2019 at 10:21 AM Dawn, Melissa <[email protected]<mailto:[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]<mailto:[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]<mailto:[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]<mailto:[email protected]>. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/CAJDA2SeovO678b8C5WeZr3PvVJGr_%2BWfix39fAdBvxH0Wh%3Dg-g%40mail.gmail.com<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/CAJDA2SeovO678b8C5WeZr3PvVJGr_%2BWfix39fAdBvxH0Wh%3Dg-g%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. -- Dawn Roberts | Director of Collections The Chicago Academy of Sciences / Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum 2430 North Cannon Drive, Chicago, IL 60614 | www.naturemuseum.org<http://www.naturemuseum.org> Collections Facility and Office 4001 N Ravenswood Avenue, suite 201, Chicago, IL 60613 | 773-755-5125 The Urban Gateway to Nature and Science -- 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]<mailto:[email protected]>. 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