**3. Translocations in insects**

The translocation of insects and other invertebrates has received considerably less attention than vertebrates; thus, not many examples of insects were translocated. However, ex situ conservation has become recognized as a more important technique for conservation for insects. With small body size, high reproductive rates, and short generation times, the insects have high potential to breed in mass captivity involving lower maintenance costs. Pearce-Kelly et al. suggested that the easy-breeding species with large captive populations have high potential for successful reintroduction programs [50]. The summary of 134 terrestrial insect translocations demonstrated that the proportion of success (52%) was higher than other animals while failed translocation programs were lower, 31% [51]. Thus, insects are the group most frequently considered in future translocations [52].

The objectives of insect translocation were classified into two groups, for conservation of the rare species and for socio-economic benefits of the flagship species. Examples of the rare insect translocation are two vulnerable crickets, *Gryllus campestris* and *Decticus verrucivorus*, in England [53–54], the threatened tiger beetle *Cicindela dorsalis dorsalis* [55], a rare damselfly *Ischnura gemina* [56], Quino checkerspot butterfly *Euphydryas editha quino* [57] and the Genji firefly *Luciola cruciata* [58] (**Table 1**). With several iterations of releasing, the released insects could establish over a period of time and produced subsequent self-sustaining populations. The failure of translocation cases were caused by small released populations, disease infection, high dispersal stage used for releasing, low quality of habitat and weather conditions when releasing. The previous study [59] analyzed the documentations of 50 reintroduction activities of butterfly species and concluded that the successful projects had a higher number of attempts (per species) (11.1 ± 11.3 times for successful and 3.5 ± 3.2 times for unsuccessful programs). Successful programs introduced at least 292 individuals per reintroduction and continued for three years. Significantly, captive breeding was recommended for reintroduction programs for almost 50% of butterfly species.

As a dominant invertebrate flagship, the translocation of butterflies could be effectively used to build public awareness using live exhibits of butterfly farms. Many exotic butterflies were large-scale bred and imported across countries and regions for exhibition. If the butterflies come from similar environmental conditions and habitats, they might have high potential to establish in the new habitats. Consequently, the unintentional translocation might happen and cause ecological


#### **Table 1.**

*Comparison of factors in some examples of rare insect translocation programs.*

#### *Firefly Translocation: A Case Study of Genetic and Behavioral Evaluation in Thailand DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.97455*

impact [60]. The opposite effect also may result, that captive bred populations lose the ability to live in natural habitats. After breeding in captivity for 100–150 generations, the large white butterfly have developed adaptive characters to captive conditions, i.e., heavier, higher ovary mass, higher numbers of laid eggs, and smaller wings that could decrease the butterflies' ability to re-establish in the wild [61].

The firefly is also a potential flagship to stimulate conservation awareness and action to support habitats for fireflies and other sympatric invertebrates. Apparently, firefly populations have declined or become extinct in many areas due to the impact of anthropogenic activities (i.e., habitat destruction, fragmentation, pollution and urbanization). Fireflies can be used to help promote public awareness and concern for biological diversity conservation.

The history of firefly translocation probably began in Japan [58]. The famous case happened in Tatsuno, Nagano prefecture where several thousand of the non-native Genji fireflies from Shiga prefecture were released as a tourist attraction. Subsequently the variation in flashing behavior and population genetics were investigated. Although the population of Genji fireflies in Tatsuno could self-establish over 70 years in the translocated area and bring more than 100,000 tourists a year, the native populations might be destroyed or lose genetic diversity. That is the risk under environmental change in the upcoming global crisis. Later, the scientists raised awareness of the firefly conservation issue and recommended the approach of using habitat preservation instead of artificial habitat creation for tourism. The fireflies were commonly labeled as an indicator species for environmental conservation. The translocation of captive fireflies in recovering polluted environments received more attention and resulted in appearance of 540 firefly events throughout Japan.
