Is it ethical to catch, handle, and release insects/inverts?

Nature Talk
1

hello! i’m a hobbyist photographer and i LOVE invertebrates. i often go outside just for the purpose of photographing and saying hello to them. i love to handle them too when i get a good opportunity, but i’ve lately been thinking about how handling could potentially stress some of them out?

i know you don’t hold specific inverts, and i’m alright with that and i avoid it with certain species. but i almost always will handle a spider if its not in its web and isn’t eating anything, i never grab it i kind of just poke it into the direction of my hand and wait for it climb on me itself as to not stress it out, but does this still stress them? will it cause them harm even if i put them back exactly where i found it? i never handle for more than a couple seconds, unless it refuses to leave. some jumping spiders will just flat out refuse to get off of me, and in that case i let them stay and hang out, but is it detrimental in any way? sorry if this is silly to ask, but my family often criticizes me for handling invertebrates and i try to explain to them it won’t harm them but i’m starting to doubt myself. i try to be as gentle as i can and i will never handle something that i know i shouldn’t.

i also will capture things in a net, and take them out for handling. most often i do this with dragonflies and damselflies since they’re so difficult to catch, and occasionally grasshoppers and katydids. i release after taking pictures. is this okay? what’s the right way to handle them? is it okay to do so? i usually hold dragons and damsels by the base of their wings but i’ve also seen people hold them by the thorax. is that better or is it okay to hold by the base of the wings? i hold grasshoppers and katys by the thorax and occasionally get spat on but i dont mind. is this stressful to them since they spit on me?

i appreciate any advice or criticism. i just worry i might actually be doing harm to the little guys and it makes me sad that i might not even know. thank you for reading and taking time to respond!

2

Hi Koda,

Welcome to the forum! Here is one take that resonated with a lot of iNatters. Let me know if it makes sense to you!

3

Back in the when a nature lover captured an invertebrate such as a lovely butterfly they would pop it in a jar of chloroform AKA “the killing jar”. They would then mount their specimen in a glass frame. Museums around the world are filled with thousands of glass frames filled with invert specimens. These have made an enormous contribution to our knowledge of smaller life forms and the practice continues to this day, so I guess you shouldn’t beat yourself up because you play games with spiders and dragonflies. Just make sure you take good photos and post them on iNat so our expansion of scientific knowledge continues to go forward.

4

Yes, they spit on you because their instincts are screaming you’re a predator trying to eat them, which is the most primal form of fear anyone can experience.

Species with less obvious defense mechanisms likely experience the same primal fear, even if they have a less obvious way of expressing it.

For species that do spit (or otherwise release noxious substances) it might hurt their chances of survival if a bird or something grabs them before they have time to produce more. (Though maybe at least you did the bird a favor?) And species that struggle to get free are obviously expending energy they could have used for other activities.

I don’t think a spider is at all stressed by the hand it crawls onto, but I guess it’s a little stressed by the hand doing the poking, hence moving away from it. That said, “something dangerous came near and I moved away” is probably a lot less stressful than “something actually grabbed and tried to eat me.”

Stress aside, it’s important not to cause actual injury. Dragons and damsels in particular are fastidious about keeping their wings and bodies clean, and oily fingerprints from a human hand could cause them a lot of issues, with dust or other substances sticking to it and causing air drag or making them less water repellent. I’m not sure whether oil from our hands is something they are equipped to clean away, but I somewhat doubt it. I would not handle them just for a photo. They tend to land in the same few places again and again, so if you sit patiently by one of those spots, it’s usually possible to get good photos. Some may be sitting in a place you can’t get close to because of water, but I still don’t think it’s ethical to risk harming them for a photo. Sometimes nature photography is about hoping for a better shot next time. It’s okay not to get useable images of every animal you see, especially if doing so could put them at risk.

5

so is it best to just leave grasshoppers alone then? i didnt know i was stressing them out, i thought they just spit on you kind of similar to flies? like how flies just throw up all the time.. i thought it was the same thing. whoops

6

this is so reassuring thank you

7

That’s really a personal decision. The spitting is a fear driven defense response, but on the other hand these are grasshoppers we’re talking about, and I very much doubt that having a “near death” experience gives them PTSD for life. In the moment, I’m sure the individual grasshopper would rather not be handled. But does being able to catch and interact with insects, as gently as possible, make you more inclined to let your yard get tall as wildlife habitat? Or argue in their defense against gardeners who just want to kill them all? There are pros and cons to almost any interaction with nature (should I still go hiking if I might step on a wildflower?) and I don’t think causing momentary stress to a grasshopper is particularly egregious. They are probably fine again as soon as you let them go.

8

“Is it ethical to catch, handle, and release insects/inverts?”

Yes, it is. It is also ethical to deliberately swat mosquitos, mash spotted lanternflies, remove hornworms from your tomatoes, and kill parasites in or on domestic animals, among other things.

9

I have some thoughts. Please be aware that I’m not taking a side, for or against, and I’m not sharing my opinion. But I would like to pose some rhetorical questions to think about.

First, I need geek moment. You mentioned flies and grasshoppers spitting. They spit for completely different reasons. Flies ingest liquids. They don’t have mandibles, so they can’t chew food. They have what’s called sponging mouthparts. Just like a sponge, they dip it into a liquid and capillary action draws the liquid up. If something isn’t a liquid, is isn’t food. To remedy this, they’ll drop saliva on it, and once something starts to liquify, they sponge it up. There’s a lot more to the anatomy and physiology, but this is the general concept.

Grasshoppers spit for several different reasons, but I’ll just mention defensive spitting. If they think they are about to be eaten, they release a foul smelling, foul tasting (so I’ve been told) liquid, often referred to as “tobacco juice” because of how it looks. Basically, the grasshopper is making itself unpleasant to eat. So, think about why it releases the tobacco juice when you pick it up? Because it thinks it’s going to be eaten. I’m using “think” figuratively.

When it comes to handling insects generally, here are a few things to ask yourself. Why are you handling them? Is it to photograph them, or just because it’s fun and sort of cool? If it’s to photograph, is it worth risking the insect being injured? Is it a quality photo with your hands all over it, or would it be a better photo in situ? What information about it are you trying to learn? Can you learn it without handling it? If so, why take the added risk? If it’s because it’s fun, is it equally fun for the insect? Your fun is coming at the expense of triggering a flight or fight response in the insect. Is that moral or ethical? I don’t know the answer; it’s something you’ll need to decide for yourself.

Again, these are things to think about.

When it comes to the dragonfly, I think it’s a much easier answer. They are obviously terrified by you. You can tell just by looking at how wide their eyes have opened! (Sorry, Dad joke)

Finally, I’ll close with this. Ethics and morality generally don’t have a right or wrong answer, unless it’s an extreme. When you’re talking or debating things like ethics and morality, remember that it’s a philosophical question that doesn’t have a correct answer and will never have an ending. Other people can make suggestions or offer their own thoughts, which is helpful when you’re trying to figure out where you sit on the scale. Just realize that in the end, it’s your decision that matters. Then comes the harder lesson in life. Once you’ve made up your mind, are you willing to hold on to that opinion when the tide is flowing against you? Some can. Some waffle and adopt the popular opinion because it’s easier. And some still hold on to their opinion on the inside, while projecting the popular opinion on the outside.

The end.

Love,
LTDBJD.

10

Is it though? I’m not convinced the answer is quite so cut and dry. Ethical according to what standard? Since you feel it is ethically acceptable, does it therefore make it ethical for everyone? Ethics and morals are individual. People develop their own sense of what is ethical based upon the experiences and influences they’ve developed over a lifetime. Since we’ve all had different experiences and influences, we all have different views of ethics. Therefore, can we make a blanket statement that it is or isn’t ethical which applies to everybody across the board?

I’ll throw in a few things to consider. I’m not debating or offering my opinion on the matter. Instead, I’m asking questions simply to think about.

First, I can’t see a connection between the two examples. How does being ethically justified to kill a pest make catching and releasing an insect ethically justified, too? There are still many important considerations. Catching and releasing an insect just because you want to, and killing a pest to avoid transmitting diseases or to protect the host are done for different reasons. They have different purposes, and have different end goals. The risks and benefits to each are also different. Each example has to be examined based on its own merits before deciding if one or both are ethically justified or not. In other words, saying that A is justified, therefore, B must be justified doesn’t make it so in the absence of other supporting or undermining facts.

Again, I’m not saying it’s ethical or unethical. Instead, I’m considering if ethics are really as cut and dry as, “Yes, it is” or “No, it isn’t.”

11

I didn’t say that “catching, handling and releasing insects” is ethical because killing pests is ethical. I just said that both are ethical.