Sri Lanka has strict laws that prohibit killing, injuring or capturing any wild animal, including invertebrates. Collecting even a single insect can result in a two to five-year prison sentence, depending on the species, or a fine of 15,000 to 50,000 rupees (73 to 246 euros). Aleksandrs Ignatenko emphasises that he had no intention of taking anything out of the country.

Arvīds Barševskis, Vice-Rector for Science at Daugavpils University and a beetle researcher who has been on many expeditions to the Philippines and has discovered and described new species, says of this case: “You have to know what you are allowed to collect in nature in any given country. It is best not to do so without permits in India, Sri Lanka, Turkmenistan or Turkey.”