I was eleven years old when my mother took me to our local museum in search of an educational pastime as a homeschooled child. Initially, I had wanted to work with the reptiles in the basement of the museum, but that was not where I was needed and I was very disappointed. I entered the overwhelming smells of mothballs and rubbing alcohol to meet a Dr. Shawn Clark, an entomology professor. From day one, this adult showed an uncanny enthusiasm for insects…bugs… CREEPY CRAWLIES. This guy REALLY liked bugs. And, alas! It did not take long for his wide eyed passion to engross me too. And that is how I feel about this amazing science. It is truly infectious. So now that I have infected you, please read on. This next passage of this about page gives you a view of my ethics in pricings and scientific views.
Every entomologist has resolved to what they think makes an insect "valuable." My idea falls on the basis of an insects taxonomical traits. Within a genus, there is a species, and within a species there can also be a subspecies. Where an insect lands on its scientific classification determines its populace among its native origins and ultimately determines its worth. If you shop from a dealer, or a trader, it is often the case that the insects they have sourced you have been bred within an isolation tank. Many have also been bred outside of their native origins. The art and design of some of these collections are imaginative and wonderful, and I follow many of their creators solely based on the artwork and creativity, but if you will notice, their are no identification labels. I have come to believe that the foundation of ethical entomological outsourcing comes from the correct labeling and story telling of an insect’s history.
