Île du Diable (Devil's Island) is the site of a small prison facility, part of a larger penal system by the same name, which consists of prisons on three islands and three larger prisons on the French Guiana mainland.

This will be operated from 1852 to 1953.

Once French Guiana in established as a penal colony, officials sometimes use convicts to catch butterflies.

The sentences of the convicts are often long, and the prospect of employment very weak, so the convicts catch butterflies to sell in the international market, both for scientific purposes as well as general collecting.