1. Lepidoptera is one of the largest orders of insects and an important component of biological diversity.
2. Lepidoptera are conspicuous and scientifically well known and therefore they are frequently used as indicator groups for conservation programmes.
3. The collection of Lepidoptera:

1. Is a means to introduce children and adults to be aware of and study their natural environment;
2. Has an essential role in building up scientific information, both for its own sake as a basis from which to identify and develop rational means for protecting the environment and its resources.
3. Is an educational activity that generally can be pursued in a manner not detrimental to the resource involved.

1. Purposes of Collecting (consistent with the above statements):
2. To create a reference collection for study and appreciation;
3. To document regional diversity, frequency, and variability of species, and provide voucher material for published records;
4. To document faunal representation in environments undergoing alteration or threatened by humans or natural forces;
5. To participate in the development of regional checklists and institutional reference collections;
6. To complement planned research initiatives and endeavours;
7. To help disseminate educational information;
8. To augment understanding of taxonomic and ecological relationships. 

1. Collecting adults or immature stages should be limited to sampling, not depleting, the population concerned. Numbers collected should be consistent with the purposes stated in section B (1-7);
2. Where the extent and/or the vulnerability of a population is unknown, caution and restraint should be exercised.

1. All data should be recorded, and the data should be made available to appropriate interested parties.

1. Breeding to understand, document and photograph life histories and to obtain series of immature stages and adults is to be encouraged, provided that collection of the breeding stock is in keeping with these guidelines;
2. Excess bred specimens should be released only in the region where they originated, and in suitable habitat.

1. Protection of the supporting habitat must be recognised as the single most critical element of species protection;
2. Collecting should be performed in a manner that minimises trampling or other damage to the habitat or specific foodplants;
3. Property rights and sensibilities of others must be respected;
4. Collectors must comply with regulations relating to publicly controlled areas, to individual species and to habitats.

1. All material should be preserved with all known data attached;
2. All material should be protected from physical damage and deterioration by light, mould, and museum beetles/pests;
3. Collections should be made available for examination by qualified researchers;
4. Collections or specimens, and their associated written and photographic records, should be willed or offered to the care of an appropriate scientific institution, if the collector lacks space or loses interest, or in anticipation of death;
5. Type specimens, especially holotypes, should be deposited in appropriate scientific institutions.
6.  

1. Collecting should include permanently recorded field notes regarding habitat, conditions, and other pertinent information;
2. Records of behaviour and biological interaction observations in the field are a high priority;
3. Photographic records, with full data, are encouraged;
4. Education of the public regarding collecting and conservation, as reciprocally beneficial activities, should be undertaken whenever possible;
5. Data should always be recorded with the specimens, and should include location (with map grid reference/GPS reading), collector, habitat, larval host plant information, and parentage of immatures, if known.

1. Collection of specimens for exchange or sale should be performed in accordance with these guidelines;
2. Breeding of specimens for exchange or sale should be from stock obtained in a manner consistent with these guidelines and so documented;
3. Lepsoc does not condone the mass collecting of Lepidoptera for commercial purposes or the collecting of specimens for the creation of saleable artefacts.

1. Collectors should comply with local, regional, provincial, national and international laws and regulations that govern collecting and possession, commerce and exchange, import and export and protection of species. They should also comply with additional local, regional, provincial, national and international laws and regulations governing live material.