Rob Small's Masters Thesis: Uptake and the success of insect ...

(Flannery, 1995b). These facts and figures make it clear why Papua New Guinea is
regarded by the West as one of the most untamed and mysterious countries in the world
today. This mythical status moves people to want ownership over the exotica that it is
thought that Papua New Guinea can provide. An outlet for this desire has crystallised in the
collection of the country’s fauna. At the beginning of the 20 th century the logistical
problems associated with travelling to Papua New Guinea, the harshness of the
environment once in the country and the difficulty of collecting the high flying Birdwings
meant that the numbers of them available to Western collectors was low and the price that
they attained was high. As noted by Parsons (1983) the assumption that many of the
Ornithoptera are extremely rare has been perpetuated right up until the present day and has
enhanced their desirability all the more.
The pastime of butterfly collecting began in Britain and was at its peak in the Victorian era.
Collectors such as G.B. Longstaff travelled far and wide to fulfil their obsession. Longstaff
began collecting in 1858 as a boy and from 1903 to 1910 travelled to India, China, Japan,
Canada, Algeria, South Africa, the West Indies, South America, Ceylon, Egypt, Sudan,
New Zealand and Australia. On butterfly collecting he commented, ‘The first sight of such
a thing as the big Hypolimnas bolina, black flashing with violet-blue, excited an emotion
better imagined than described. At all events, the creatures took me fairly by storm: collect
I must!’ (Longstaff, 1912).
Although easily regarded as a Victorian obsession, a description of the desire for butterflies
from Angus Hutton who went on to co-found the Insect Farming and Trading Agency
allows an insight into what drove individuals such as himself to further develop the
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