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

It was in the 1970s that the next step in the development of the Papua New Guinean insect
trade took place. This decade saw the official introduction of the systematic farming, or
more accurately the ranching of butterflies that culminated in the formation of the Insect
Farming and Trading Agency in 1978. However, the concept of the rearing of captive
butterflies was not a new one; indeed this process was detailed by Meek in 1913.
Butterfly breeding…is quite necessary for the collector who wishes to obtain
really good specimens for museums. Having discovered a new butterfly, his
next step is to search the district for its larvae and pupae. Experience guides
you as to the likely places to search. Each different species of butterfly has
usually a distinguishable difference in its larvae and pupa…The advantage of
breeding as compared with catching the butterflies is, first, that you secure
perfect specimens, and second, that you have a chance of securing now and
again a “sport.” (Meek 1913)
In the early 1970s it was increasingly evident that the insect market was rapidly developing
in Papua New Guinea. In the main this was due to interested expatriates and much
improved communications and logistical network. The Australian government and
individual government officers feared that the collection of butterflies and insects could
spiral out of hand. At this point the country had been divided up by entrepreneurs who had
a written rule that they ‘wouldn’t tread on each others toes’ (pers. comm. Peter Clark,
2004). The pioneers of the insect trade at this point were Harry Borch in the Sepik and
Rabaul, Raymond Straatman in Morobe and the Highlands and Richard Carver (pers.
comm. Peter Clark). Both Borch and Carver were employed as government agriculture
officers and Straatman worked for the Bishop Museum. Peter Clark defined these men as
entrepreneurs but they were also keen amateur entomologists with a passion for ‘bugs’.
40