An initial hypothesis of the researcher was that butterfly farms may be acting as

ecological traps, presenting adult butterflies with seemingly suitable resources and habitat, only

to have their eggs parasitized and larvae predated upon at higher than normal rates. Although it

was evident that butterflies were in higher numbers surrounding the farm, larval predation was

less of a threat at the farm and especially low quite near the farm epicenter. Therefore, this study

suggests that butterfly farms may, in fact, not serve as ecological traps and in a way could have

the opposite effect by acting as a source for metapopulations in fragmented landscapes.

Although this is a relatively unsubstantiated assumption, it could provide the framework for an

intriguing follow-up study.

 Being a preliminary study of butterfly abundance, larval predation, and egg parasitism at

butterfly farms and ecotourism areas, this set of experiments yielded interesting and helpful

results. Many possible explanations for trends in these data involve butterfly activity from

within the epicenter as well as possible attraction to the epicenter. Further studies should

concentrate on the specific areas in question, such as nurseries, outdoor gardens, and breeding

and rearing centers in order to conclusively evaluate specific attractive qualities they may

possess.