arises. The butterfly enclosures could be serving as an ecological trap, in that they suggest

appropriate habitat and substantial mate availability when in fact the opposite is the case.

 Ecological Traps

 In choosing an appropriate habitat, whether it is to breed, forage, lay eggs, or simply for

refuge, organisms rely on cues exhibited by the environment as indicators. An organism's

decision to choose a particular habitat is largely the result of evolution and an adaptation to rely

on cues that previously have correlated with survival and reproductive success (Williams &

Nichols 1984). With enough evolutionary time and a strong enough correlation, a sudden change

in the environment could endanger the organism by altering the "time-tested" association

between a particular cue (or set of cues) and a predictable outcome for the organism (Levins

1968).

 Gates and Gysel (1978) were among the first to use the term "ecological trap" to describe

the increasingly common occurrence of what was described in the previous paragraph. They

observed a situation in which a bird's choice of nesting habitat led to nest failure due to recent

anthropogenic change in the environment. This nest failure broke the connection between the

normal cue and the habitat quality to which these birds were evolutionarily accustomed, and this

resulted in a complete loss of brood by the nesting adults. Susceptibility to ecological traps is

not restricted to birds, as these traps may victimize any organism whose ancestors recognized

and acted upon a tight correlation between a cue and the present or future state of the

environment (clearly an intelligent and historically successful behavior!).

 Butterfly farms may present an example of how an ecological trap could work by

displaying "false cues" for habitat quality. Ubiquitous at butterfly farms are specific host and

nectar sources for the butterflies they breed. Similarly, the butterflies bred at farms are typically

the same species that occur in the local area, due to climate, restrictions stated in government