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I have a strange question regarding moving butterflies from one country to another (kind of a lame explanation, but please bear with me).

I am collecting butterflies (basically doing something like this) a mounted preserved butterfly collection

and in order to expand my collection I am looking to travel to other countries. Thus the main reason for travelling to the country is to catch a species that I do not have (kill and stretch them in a nice position) and bring them back to the USA (where I currently live).

The problem is that a lot of countries I was looking into do not permit butterflies to be taken outside of the country (I say that this is strange, because inside of the country they are killed as vermin, and basically no one cares; nonetheless some butterflies are protected by the red list).

I am looking for help from the fellow travelers who can tell me some of the countries where I can collect and take away butterflies. If I am not asking for too much, I would be super happy if someone can suggest places from their countries where I can collect them.

P.S.

  • I am not planning to get huge amount of them (1-2 elements from each of the species, and I would be lucky to collect 30 butterflies in a trip)
  • I am not interested in buying them (the butterflies I have seen for sale look nice for ordinary people, but are bad quality for collectors)
  • I am willing to pay a reasonable amount to be able to transfer them
choster
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Salvador Dali
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2 Answers2

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Some years back I went to a butterfly farm in Suriname. Their core business was exporting butterfly dolls to European and American Butterfly gardens. At the time it seemed like a very interesting business model. Due to the climate American and European butterfly gardens depend on a steady stream of new Dolls. I was told that the through put was a shipment per three weeks per butterfly garden. This specific farm had quite some species available.

It might be a solution to find these providers in various country. I was told that there are also some in Central America. These farms would not only be a good source for butterfly's they might also assist you in import regulations, since they have to deal with them on a daily base.

If Suriname is not in reach, you could try to contact your local butterfly farm and inquire about their providers.

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All i can say is INDIA: FORGET IT. http://www.theskepticalmoth.com/collecting-permits/ .I'm from India, btw. And trust me, you dont want to go through the maze of Indian biodiversity rules, restrictions, conditions and regulations on intercontinental transport.

A E
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Thomas TK Tungnung
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