Importing Insects

November 19, 2015

Question: I would like to start up a business importing exotic dead insects into California to preserve and sell as curiosities. I realize that if they were alive, that’d be easy (No Bueno!), but what about dead ones? I propose to import them dead but not preserved, and then preserve them myself. Would it make a difference if I imported them already preserved? Aside from this sounding like the intro to a bad ‘50s giant bug movie, is what I am proposing to do legal? (Brent G.)

Answer: State fish and wildlife laws don’t prohibit importation or sale of insects, but there are other laws that you may need to be aware of. You should contact the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Some creatures, although dead, may still contain live eggs within. And if any of the species you propose to import are restricted species, border inspectors will not likely differentiate between whether they are dead or alive.

What a crappy and destructive idea to collect the most interesting and beautiful specimens in quantities sufficient to sell. Not something anyone's even going to eat. I like entomology and natural history as much as the next guy but this isn't 1850. The University of California has a phenomenal collection very few people even bother to look at I'm sure. Greed sucks.

They probably want to put the in resin for paperweights and trinkets.