The ongoing disappearance of Amazonia and tropical forests throughout the world is one of the most pressing environmental issues of the day. Whether due to large multi-national timber conglomerates devouring unfathomable acreage to satiate the demands of our ever multiplying population, or due to commercial agricultural interests clearing forests for vast expanses of mono-culture production (i.e. Soya beans), or due to migratory agriculturists steadily spreading and encroaching on once pristine forests, the deforestation continues at an alarming pace. Whomever the assailants and irregardless of the forces driving them, we are rapidly consuming an irreplaceable resource integral to the health of our planet. With the loss of these forests we not only lose a vital component in global climatic moderation and a regulator of precipitation patterns, but also a biodiversity of such magnitude that we may indeed lack the capacity to fully comprehend its breadth.

For many campesinoes living in remote tropical regions, their sole opportunity for sustenance is derived from resource extraction from their surrounding environs (often timber or bush-meat)or through agricultural endeavors. Utilizing migratory slash and burn techniques and expanding chacras or pasture land for grazing livestock, they produce hopefully enough to feed their immediate families, and with luck a surplus to send/bring to regional markets to realize a meager profit. It is hard to deny the difficulties faced day to day by many rural populations and unfair to blame these people for their continuance of a lifelong tradition.

Unfortunately, conservation ideals often conflict with the difficult realities faced by these campesinoes who are merely working to survive one day at a time. If viable and productive conservation initiatives are to be realized then synergistic relationships must be formed, merging conservation goals with economic sustainability and prosperity for local populations. Enlightenment and encouragement of these peoples toward alternatives which utilize local resources in a responsible and sustainable manner, and which allow for their realization of economic stability and independence is essential if meaningful strides are to be made.

Many such opportunities exist, only one of which is the collection of insects to supply the demands for collectors and artisans worldwide. The global market for these insects involves many millions of dollars in annual trade. Supplying this demand is a growing number of local collectors and an increasing number of locally managed in-situ breeding facilities/farms. The collection and/or propagation and sale of these insects will help in a small way to alleviate some pressure on these forests by allowing these people to garner an income in a sustainable manner, while placing value on the forest as an ecosystem necessary for the continuance of their new-found source of income (insects), and thus compelling them to protect it.

The biggest threat to the survival of these insects, and almost all tropical flora and fauna is undeniably deforestation and overall habitat degradation. The numbers collected annually pale in comparison to the numbers of adults and untold number of larvae of these same species which die, or fail to realize successful reproductive cycle do to the loss of habitat and essential host plants in the wake of ongoing deforestation. Further, it should be noted that amongst insect collectors and artisans only perfect or near perfect specimens are desired, and thus only these specimens (which are relatively uncommon) are collected leaving the vast majority, those butterflies with torn wings, or beetles with broken antennae or missing tibia, free to pursue their reproductive ambitions. Additionally the adult lifespan of most insects is extremely brief, and assuredly many specimens have already reproduced prior to collection.

The specimens pictured here and offered for sale were all purchased in Peru from local collectors, and legally exported from Peru, in total compliance with all INRENA regulations. Professionally prepared, these insects will forever serve as a reminder to all who see them, providing a mere glimpse to the wonders held within Amazonia and tropical forests the world over and a testament of all we stand to lose if we are unsuccessful in conserving our most diverse and fragile of ecosystems. Hopefully these specimens will provide a catalyst to children and adults alike, instilling in them a curiosity and a passion to further explore and appreciate the rainforest realm, and thus impassioning them to the plight of the worlds imperiled tropical forests.

Recognizing that the economic potential of these forest will inevitably be capitalized upon (usually in a fashion detrimental to the forests) given that they constitute one of the most valuable resource of many developing nations, we at Understory believe that the fair commerce of rainforests products, or products of rainforest origins be they floral or faunal or derivatives thereof, when extracted, harvested and or/produced in a sustainable fashion, neither detrimental to the natural populations nor the integrity of the rainforest ecosystem as whole, while simultaneously providing income for local peoples should be encouraged, supported and aggressively promoted as promising alternatives to timbering and other destructive practices. This support should come from not only the hobbyist and conservationists but also from the politicians, bureaucrats and regulating bodies who so often, in their attempts to control and regulate, stand in the way of such efforts, impeding the potential for real success.