Sandy, Some ramblings FWIW... Just because these folks are going through the USDA APHIS permit process to obtain the leps doesn't mean that the USDA knows what they are doing with them, or would approve of it. The USDA has specific guidelines for leps that are used for public display. From what you've posted I doubt they are following them (at least not the requirements for an approved facility with public access). A search of the APHIS web site will direct you to those requirements if you want to compare them to what they are doing. As suggested a call to your local USDA would put the ball in their court to check it out. As for the livestock being wild collected instead of specifically reared for this purpose, good luck. Very few countries are governed with specific regulations like we are, and even if they do have regs in place they don't police them. With the increase in value of lepidoptera to collectors (some species bring sevral hundreds of dollars or more per specimen), many people in foreign countries make 100% of or at least subsidize their income by collecting wild leps and selling them to anybody who will pay the price. Even our own US Customs is a joke when it comes to lepidoptera as most agents don't know the specific regs as they pertain to leps, and all of them are uneducated in the species determinations of leps. They simply go by the inventory on the import document, and if none of the species listed is on their list of protected species they will simply pass them through. I doubt they even take a head count to match even the number in the package against the permit. You mentioned Costa Rica as the source of many (most) of the species they have in this display. FWIW, customs in Costa Rica is a division of the countries Department of Treasury, so their main purpose is to collect taxes on imports into the country. I doubt they would pay much attention to a non commercial package shipping out of their country. And like our own customs their agents probably have no clue about lepidoptera anyway. Way back when I actively did foreign species they were governed by our US Fish and Wildlife Department's Law Enforcements Division. They had very specific regulations for the import/export of lepidoptera that included all the "acts" to protect them (ESA, CITES, Lacy Act, etc). Even so as long as a package contained an approved import/export permit our customs portals would pass them through without question, even if the species were mislabeled or had been collected illegally, and it mattered not if they were papered adults or livestock. So the introduction of an invasive species was not a concern of customs. Has the USDA improved on the system? I doubt it, because it still comes down to the knowledge of the specific regs and species recognition of the customs agent who processes it at our customs portals. Selling leps is a big business worldwide. Is it exploiting a natural resource? It depends on if they are coming from wild collecting or from butterfly farms IMO. If wild collected stock is being sold for profit, yes IMO. If reared from pairings of farm raised adults specifically to sell that's not exploitation IMO. Are "legal" living butterfly exhibits exploiting a natural resource either way? Yes they are in the sense that a zoo does the exact same things. Only you can decide for yourself if the educational good of either out weighs the bad. Larry

Oh, no!! I'm sorry that this happened! :( I've done something similar with really well-loved plants that were dormant, I forgot they were there, and sliced into them while digging :( I think that if your mower didn't cut into the crown of the plant, it will recover. I've cut my leaves extremely short before, when trying to eliminate foliage problems, and they put up new leaves.

That's great news. I am happy for you especially since your son is military. No matter how any of us feel about the war, we appreciate our military people. We spent many holidays alone. Because of the parents and step parents issue, I decided what ever day my children could be with us was "the" holiday. The Christmas my oldest granddaughter was four, they were stationed in Abeline. We lived in San Antonio and my son's father lived in Kingsvile and my DIL's mother lived in Robstown. The kids had their Christmas at home and then drove to SA. The next day we had our Christmas. The day after they drove to Robstown and had Christmans at my DIL's mother's house. They went to my ex's on Christmas morning and had Christmas. Soooooo,my granddaughter got up the day after Christmas expecting it all to happen again. She was a tad disappointed.

I've had a couple issues there myself. I guess there are some issues with how they came across because I did spend some time crying about it off and on. I thought, kind of like Lisa, that I was being too sensitive. Now, with all the different opinions, it definitely seems they have some problems with how they communicate to their members. I still think their hearts are in the right place, but they should work with how they communicate what they need to, or basically, they need to work on how they come across to others. Cody used the word "reprimand" which is very much how they come off. Anyways, Lisa, I'm glad you've successfully completed so many "trades" there as they call them. I've been trading there for over a year and haven't done near that many! There are some great members there as you get to know the individuals. I'm glad I blew off the issues there to be able to get to know some of the great gardeners/people in the group. Blessings, Angela