An Italian man and his son were fined 60 million Sri Lankan rupees (S$260,000) after being convicted of attempting to smuggle hundreds of protected insects, including butterflies and dragonflies, out of the South Asian country.

Dr Luigi Ferrari, 68, a well-known orthopaedic surgeon, and his 28-year-old son, Mattia, were arrested on May 9 by wildlife rangers at Yala National Park.

In their backpacks, the rangers found “hundreds of insects” in glass jars, bags and plastic containers, Italian newspaper L’Unione Sarda reported.

Investigations showed that the duo used animal attractants to lure the insects and planned on using wax sachets to chemically preserve them.

They were convicted in early September of illegally capturing, collecting and transporting the insects, and slapped with the highest-ever fine for wildlife crime in the country.

The judge ruled that the sum has to be paid by Sept 29, failing which they will be jailed for two years.

Park ranger K Sujeewa Nishantha told BBC Sinhala that on the day of the incident, a safari jeep driver had informed his team of a “suspicious car” parked on a road by the national park area.

Two men had been observed leaving the vehicle and entering the forest with insect nets.

The BBC reported that rangers located the car and found hundreds of jars containing the insects in its trunk.

“All the insects were dead when we found them. They put a chemical in the bottles,” Mr Nishantha told BBC Sinhala. “There were more than 300 insects.”

Italian news reports said Dr Ferrari is an insect enthusiast and a member of an entomology association in the northern Italian city of Modena.

He and his son were reportedly in Sri Lanka for a holiday when they were caught.

Yala National Park is one of Sri Lanka’s most popular nature reserves and home to a wide variety of animals, including elephants, leopards, buffalos, bears and eagles.