Home butterfly farm. Breeding butterflies

Butterflies are a very fashionable and unusual gift or interior decoration for events. They are given as gifts in boxes, released at holidays, butterflies are used to make “fireworks” and other beautiful ideas for using such an exotic insect.

Ordinary and uninformed people think that only professionals can breed and store butterflies in special premises. This is wrong. Even one person can start this type of home business. Let's tell you in more detail.

Storage conditions and breeding of butterflies

Butterflies are grown from pupae (larvae), the average cost of one pupae is 200-300 rubles. To raise butterflies at home, you need to collect insectarium.

Insectarium- a special room, similar to an aquarium, for breeding insects.

You can assemble the insectarium yourself, or you can purchase a ready-made one. Many novice entrepreneurs use aquariums or just ordinary glass cabinets for these purposes. Inside you need to place the perches to which you will tie the pupae.

Since it is necessary to maintain a certain temperature (24-26°C) and humidity (80-90%) in the insectarium, special equipment for insectariums is placed inside or an automatic heating element with a temperature sensor and an air humidifier are installed. Don't forget about ventilation.

It takes 1-2 weeks for a butterfly to mature from a pupa. Once the butterfly has hatched, it must be caught, placed in an entomological container and stored in a cool place for sale. Before releasing the butterfly, you need to warm it up a little.

Of course, you can raise butterflies from the caterpillar stage, but caterpillars are very finicky in storing and feeding, and your goal is business. Therefore, the easiest and fastest way is I bought the pupae - after 2 weeks I sold the butterflies and bought the pupae again. And so on in a circle.

Watch a video on how to properly breed tropical butterflies

Tropical butterfly pupae are sold on specialized websites or from local sellers at pet markets or stores. Also, the sellers will advise you on how to properly “hatch” the butterfly and keep them in marketable condition.

Who are your clients?

Your first clients are private individuals. You can sell butterflies online - from your website or bulletin board. Or, you can establish partnerships with large establishments specializing in holidays and events - restaurants, cafes, amusement parks, holiday and event agencies (weddings, birthdays, etc.)

The average cost of an adult butterfly is from 500 to 2,500 rubles. Usually purchase 3-5 butterflies at a time.

There are not many subtleties in this business, and there are also no serious risks, unless, of course, you purchase pupae from good sellers and not from scammers who, under the guise of tropical butterflies, can sell pupae of local wild butterflies such as cabbage butterflies.

As you understand from the business idea, the butterfly breeding business is a very home-based business and can be done by one person.

Especially for KHOBIZ.RU

Butterfly breeding as a business can be organized at home. In this case, an exciting hobby will bring considerable dividends. Butterflies are one of the most beautiful insects on our planet. In addition, there are many different types of them.

It is worth considering the fact that butterflies are currently a popular and fashionable element for various events, as well as romantic surprises.

Business prospects

Butterfly breeding, which can be done at home, will be a profitable endeavor. Clients who order these beautiful insects are usually quite wealthy people. It is they who turn to agencies specializing in holidays.

The cost of one butterfly is about two hundred rubles, and they are ordered in large enough quantities to arrange a “live” fireworks display. For a colorful and spectacular spectacle, insects are subjected to slight cooling. This makes it possible to deprive them of the desire to fly. Butterflies are placed in a beautifully decorated box, which is heated at the right time of the holiday. After opening the lid, the butterflies scatter throughout the room in a magnificent fireworks display.

Butterfly breeding as a business is a very profitable project. Tropical insect species are ordered in large quantities. By purchasing three butterflies, the client will pay approximately 3,000 rubles, and if fifty copies are needed, they will cost 35,000 rubles.

Magnificent and graceful insects are actively purchased by holiday agencies providing their services in large cities. As for small settlements, such businesses simply do not exist in them.

It is worth keeping in mind that butterfly breeding as a business does not necessarily have to be aimed at wholesale buyers. There are people who want to purchase them for individual creative gifts.

Breeding "live goods" at home

Few people know that in order to grow butterflies, you do not need to create a bulky laboratory equipped with glass boxes and flasks.

You can purchase tropical moths that are quite large in size and have attractive colors from entrepreneurs involved in this business. Pupae, from which the butterflies you are interested in will soon appear, can be ordered online, paying from fifty to three hundred rubles for each. Delivery can be made either by mail or directly to your home by courier.

Required conditions

In the room where insects are located, the temperature and humidity of the air should be similar to the places where they live in nature. This is why butterfly breeding as a business will require patience from you. Only in this case will a stable income be ensured.

Caterpillars, cocoons and moths must be kept in special aquariums called insectariums. At the same time, depending on the types of butterflies, you will need to purchase containers of various sizes. It is worth remembering that large butterflies may die if they are kept in a small aquarium. In insectariums, the air temperature should be high.

There is also a need to maintain high humidity. Conditions should resemble tropical forests for insects. To do this, you will need to use humidifiers and heaters. All necessary equipment can be purchased at pet stores.

The problem with nutrition is somewhat more difficult to solve. You will have to purchase a greenhouse in which to grow tropical plants. It is worth remembering that you will need quite a lot of food, because caterpillars are real gluttons. As for feeding butterflies, sweet fruits, natural honey and sugar are enough for them.

Important points

In an aquarium where butterflies are raised, dry branches must be placed. The fact is that the beautiful insect that is born must dry out its wings.

To do this, it is attached to the branches upside down. This process usually lasts for several hours. If this moment is not provided for, then the butterflies simply will not be able to fly, therefore, it is unlikely that they will be realized.

What to do if the butterflies have not found their buyer?

Butterfly farming as a business can fail. What to do if it was not possible to sell the insects on time? There's no need to get upset. Butterflies can simply be dried, framed in a beautiful wooden frame and sold to connoisseurs of true art.

Bumblebee breeding business

There are currently about two and a half thousand biotech companies on our planet. Some of them are engaged in breeding bumblebees. Attempts to domesticate these insects have been made since the beginning of the nineteenth century.

However, industrial breeding became possible only after it was discovered that carbon dioxide affects the oogenesis of bumblebee queens. This discovery made it possible to obtain offspring from striped insects in a controlled and year-round manner.

Since the 80-90s of the last century, technology for the industrial breeding of bumblebees began to be developed on this basis in some countries of the world. Today, more than twenty-five companies operate on it. They produce almost half a million families annually. Moreover, it is, as a rule, the large ground bumblebee that is of interest. The purchase price of his families for the farms ranges from one hundred twenty-five to one hundred and fifty dollars.

Profitable business

Bumblebees are bred for the purpose of using them in agriculture as pollinators for many plants. A special effect is manifested when these flying insects are present in greenhouses. After pollination by bumblebees, an increase in yield is observed from five to fifty percent. In addition, fruits grown in this way have a higher taste.

Is the business of raising bumblebees profitable? Undoubtedly. In addition to increasing the yield of its own crops, the farm can earn a lot of money by selling families. The amount of profit will depend on production volumes.

Breeding crayfish

These invertebrate animals can be raised not only in specialized farms. Small-sized garden plots with ponds are also suitable for the implementation of the project.

For the purpose of breeding crayfish, either a pond or a factory farm can be organized. The first of them is considered the most profitable in economic terms.
A profitable crayfish breeding farm for aspiring entrepreneurs is a farm that raises fingerlings. Their sale on the market will provide the greatest income.

The technology for growing cancer is quite labor-intensive. First of all, females that already have live eggs on their legs should be caught in natural reservoirs. Then they should be transported to your farm. To raise one ton of crayfish, it will take from five hundred to six hundred females. Pre-incubation of embryos is carried out in swimming pools, small ponds or using special devices. Particular attention should be paid to water aeration.

The crayfish breeding process requires constant monitoring. It is important to maintain a certain quality of water by monitoring the amount of oxygen and hydrogen dissolved in it. The food resources of the reservoir also require careful study.

The presence of zooplankton, algae, worms, etc. can significantly reduce the cost of growing commercial crayfish and fingerlings. If the water temperature exceeds seven degrees, invertebrate animals are fed with boiled or fresh food, which can be slaughterhouse waste, meat, shellfish, vegetables, etc.

Is it profitable to breed crayfish? Yes, the business is quite profitable. Economic calculations prove this. Thus, the purchase of two hundred kilograms of invertebrate animals costs twenty thousand rubles. After a year of cultivation, six tons of crayfish can be sold. The cost of a kilogram is two hundred rubles. The profit from the event will be more than RUB 1,000,000.

Raising mice

There are many options for biotechnology-based businesses. One of them is mouse breeding. The main exporting country of experimental rodents is Argentina. The mice are supplied to US research centers as well as university laboratories.

Biotech companies are breeding difficult rodents. These animals are genetically modified, which allows experiments on them to be carried out with the greatest effect.

Breeding and keeping tropical butterflies is a costly and very risky endeavor. It is difficult to organize a high-quality spectacle with the participation of even the most beautiful butterflies, which could attract the attention of visitors for a long time and become a source of stable income for the owner. But if you are seriously interested in entomology, and the world of lepidopteran insects serves as a source of entrepreneurial inspiration for you, then perhaps breeding butterflies at home as a business will become a gold mine for you that will provide both material and creative well-being.

What a novice entrepreneur needs to know about the business with live butterflies and what should be prepared for when planning costs and profits, we will tell you in this review.

How to make money breeding butterflies

They started breeding butterflies for sale in Russia about 13 years ago.

During this time, entrepreneurs have mastered several types of income from tropical exotics.

Butterfly parks have appeared in many large cities, where visitors can admire these beautiful delicate creatures, as well as purchase a live exotic moth for their home collection.

Agencies for organizing festive events offer clients to decorate ceremonies with the ceremonial flight of strange butterflies.

In parks or galleries you can find exhibitions and sales of panels with dried moths.

Most often, an entrepreneur who professionally engages in a home business such as butterfly breeding provides a full range of services:

  • contains a butterfly park;
  • sells moths wholesale and retail;
  • produces and sells panels with dried butterflies.

Due to the fact that any spectacles involving butterflies are quite expensive, at first glance it may seem that a business with these insects has high profitability.

Is it so? Let's try to figure it out.

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How to breed and keep butterflies

In order to breed butterflies like this, an entrepreneur will need:

  • a specially equipped insectarium with adjustable humidity and temperature levels;
  • exotic plants that can serve as food for caterpillars and habitat for butterflies;
  • pupae of rare butterflies.

The room in which the butterflies will be located must have a ceiling height of at least three meters.

You can build an insectarium yourself using drawings available on the Internet, but a reliable climate control system will need to be purchased from trusted suppliers.

The main expenses when running a business such as butterfly farming are the purchase of pupae. The cost of one pupa is from 3 US dollars; the more beautiful and viable the butterfly, the more expensive the pupa is.

However, there is no guarantee that all purchased pupae will produce healthy, normally developed butterflies of the species declared by the seller.

Lots of dolls are purchased from countries of the African, South American, and Asian continents. The minimum quantity is from 100 dolls. With such purchases, approximately 1/3 of the dolls turn out to be of poor quality.

The butterfly lives from one week to two, depending on the conditions of detention, so it is necessary to purchase new pupae at least once every 14 days, and this is quite a serious investment.

Current expenses

To start a butterfly farming business, an entrepreneur needs to spend:

  • 15 thousand rubles. for room equipment;
  • 90 thousand rubles. for the first three batches of dolls.

Caring for insects is simple: just place chopped fruits and honey diluted with water on a feeding stand.

If an entrepreneur plans to open a butterfly park as a business, then the monthly costs should include the amount of wages for hired personnel.

You will need at least three employees (accountant-cashier, security guard, administrator), with the condition that the owner himself will also actively work in the park.

Salary costs will be about 60 thousand rubles. monthly.

Business payback

We will assume that one entrepreneur works in three directions at once, discussed above (maintenance of the park, wholesale and retail sale of butterflies and sale of paintings with dried insects).

The profitability of such a business will be high enough to cover current expenses and form a financial reserve for the enterprise.

The approximate cost of one ticket to the butterfly park for the day is about 500 rubles.

With an average visit to the park of 10 people per day, in one working month you can earn up to 120 thousand rubles. from the sale of entrance tickets.

When selling live butterflies to visitors at retail, each butterfly can cost from 700 rubles. up to 1000 rub. Wholesale prices are slightly lower: from 500 rubles to 800 rubles per butterfly.

Thus, from a batch of dolls worth 30 thousand rubles. You can earn 60 thousand rubles. selling live butterflies.

Panels with dried moths are sold at retail at prices starting from 1 thousand rubles. This type of activity can also be a reliable source of income and bring a profit of up to 20 thousand rubles per month. The production and sale of panels is one of the most profitable and least risky implementation options.

Thus, the total income of an entrepreneur engaged in butterfly breeding can be 200 thousand rubles per month.

The cost of wages and purchasing dolls twice a month will be about 120 thousand rubles. Profit – 80 thousand rubles. per month.

An example of a home business for breeding tropical butterflies in the following video:

For novice businessmen who are not planning to organize a park, but only want to establish sales of exotic moths, the calculation of the business plan changes. Costs are reduced solely to the purchase of dolls, but the risk of losses increases. If a buyer for a batch of moths is not found within a matter of days, the entrepreneur will not be able to return the funds invested in it. Rate others too.

Butterflies are graceful and unique creatures; their world is diverse and amazes with its splendor. The beauty of these magical creatures has always delighted people. But butterflies are not only lovely creatures; with their help you can create your own home business, all year round.

The greatest demand is for tropical butterflies, which are not only large in size but also have an unusual coloring.

You ask, how can you make money from this?

For various celebrations (wedding, birthday, anniversary, etc.) you can organize a fireworks display of live butterflies. This service has recently been provided by holiday agencies. The butterfly fireworks technology is quite simple.

First, 10-20 cooled insects are carefully placed in a box. Cooled butterflies are motionless. Then the box is heated, the butterflies come to life and rush out of the open box into the bright light. Just imagine a wedding in a banquet hall, where beautiful butterflies will fly among the guests. In addition, you can arrange a photo shoot with butterflies.

By March 8th, you can pack butterflies in beautifully decorated envelopes or boxes. And when the envelope is opened, a bright butterfly will fly out from there. This design option will be an unusual gift for your beloved.

You can also use butterflies to make elegant surprise cards, New Year’s gifts, lively valentines and much more.

The big downside to this business is that the lifespan of butterflies is only a couple of weeks. Therefore, it is necessary to grow them to order. And the extra butterflies that remain unclaimed can be dried after death and made into a panel that can be sold at any time.

To organize a home business for raising butterflies, you will need an insectarium - a special room for breeding and keeping insects.

Ordering such an insectarium will cost you from $800 to $1,500, depending on the size and design. In such an insectarium you can breed up to 500 butterflies. If it is colorfully decorated with plants, waterfalls and other decorative elements, then the insectarium can become a very worthy decoration for an office, apartment or entertainment center.

Can be used as an insectarium or an ordinary aquarium. It will only need to be equipped with equipment that will control the tropical climate: maintain a certain temperature and humidity. The temperature in the insectarium should be 26-28 degrees, and the humidity - 80-90%. In such conditions, butterflies reproduce best.

The equipment for the insectarium includes humidity and temperature sensors, a heater and a humidifier. The cost of equipment for an insectarium ranges from $450 to $750, depending on the size of the insectarium and design.

Inside the insectarium there are sticks to which the pupae are tied at a distance of 15 cm from each other. This distance allows the butterflies to spread their wings without touching each other.

At home, butterflies feed on sugar or honey water, as well as rotten fruit. The yield of butterflies under ideal conditions reaches 90%. But before getting started, I recommend practicing breeding ordinary butterflies.

How much can you earn selling butterflies?
?

Dolls cost from $3 to $15 (you can purchase them online by mail). And the cost of butterflies from these pupae is $20-50.

For example, wedding agencies sell mini-fireworks of just 3 butterflies for $100. A salute of 11 butterflies placed in a holiday gift box costs $250. An elegant surprise card costs $50.

Thus, by selling several fireworks of 11 butterflies, you will fully pay for all the equipment. Butterfly breeding is not only a beautiful, but also a very profitable home business.

After you have established a permanent market for butterflies, you can think about not raising butterflies, but rather breeding them.

To do this, you will need a greenhouse with a ceiling height of at least 3 meters, and food plants for the caterpillars (without this, the butterflies will not mate). Now you can become a supplier of dolls yourself.

There are several options for developing this business. A winter garden or greenhouse greatly simplifies the task, but it can be maintained even in a residential apartment (in the summer) and does not necessarily require special equipment. A glass insectarium 75x75x100 cm is suitable for home keeping (it can be made from plexiglass).

Your own butterfly farm is the most expensive, but also the most profitable way of doing business. Butterflies are raised on the farm, from mating to the emergence of a full-fledged butterfly. A farm for tropical butterflies can be built by analogy with the one in Novosibirsk. In Novosibirsk, about 60 square meters are allocated for the Vanessa farm. m. The entire area is divided into several zones by glass partitions.

In the first zone, a maternity ward is set up, where a certain microclimate is maintained all the time with the help of special equipment - high temperature (+26-28°C) and relative humidity up to 70-80%.

In this zone, butterflies mate and lay eggs on plant leaves. Since the butterfly lays up to 200 eggs in a bunch on one leaf, they should be carefully distributed over all the leaves with a brush.

Most butterflies feed on a honey solution and juicy fruits, which are laid out on artificial branch feeders or flower-shaped feeders. This decorative feeder in the form of a flower with a diameter of 15 cm can be installed on a pole with a diameter of 2 cm. The feeding cups are filled with nectar - sugar syrup, jam, honey solution, and pieces of bananas and various juicy fruits are also laid out.

The second zone is set up for feeding the caterpillars. Southern trees grow here. In one month, a caterpillar can eat up a completely young tree, so for the constant planting of new ones, seedlings of southern trees are grown in a separate greenhouse.

The third zone is for growing pupae. When the caterpillar entangles itself in a cocoon, it is moved from this area, where, under the supervision of experienced workers, it transforms into a butterfly. To maintain such a farm, a staff of about 7 workers and one experienced entomologist is required.

There are special thermostat cabinets where the butterfly hatches from the pupa, as well as feeders and other equipment and tools necessary for breeding butterflies.

You can set up a farm at a lower cost if you breed not tropical beauties, but butterflies of the local flora.

Among them there are quite beautiful specimens - swallowtail, peacock's eye, lemongrass. Caterpillars of native butterflies can live and feed on the shoots of carrots, parsley, dill and even nettles. Like overseas butterflies, they need light and warmth to produce offspring year-round.

In captivity, caterpillars are additionally fed vitamins and antibiotics. Next is the natural formation of the pupa and the emergence of the butterfly. It should also be taken into account that when breeding in captivity, insects quickly begin to degrade, so from time to time you will have to collect butterflies in nature for an “infusion of fresh blood.” An entomological net is the main, most versatile and most necessary tool for hunting butterflies. You can buy it ready-made or make it yourself.

Another business option is to purchase butterflies to order from a farm for a specific event, and then sell them to the client at your own premium, or become a representative of this company.

Or you can just open a butterfly salon.

Insects are raised in a special greenhouse, after which the butterfly pupae are moved to the salon's greenhouse, where a constant elevated temperature and high humidity are maintained. The exhibition includes butterflies from Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia. Visitors to the salon may be allowed to pick up insects and photograph them.

Sources: mirzam.ru, Sense-Life.com

As soon as the caterpillars appear, they need to be transplanted into a container with a food plant. Line the container with soft paper. You will have to constantly add fresh leaves there. The caterpillars don't need ventilation holes yet.

Well, the caterpillars have grown up. Now we transplant them into a spacious, ventilated cage. We protect the cage from direct rays of the sun. If there are too many caterpillars in the cage, they can injure each other. Caterpillars need to be looked after: change leaves, remove droppings.

When the time comes for the caterpillars to pupate, their behavior will change somewhat: they will stop eating and crawling around the container. If you expect daytime butterflies to appear, you need vertical branches; night butterflies need soil.
Now you just need to wait for a small miracle to appear. The butterflies that appear will delight you and your loved ones.

Butterflies are the most beautiful creatures that excite people’s imagination with their lightness and beauty. Poems were written about them, they were painted on engravings, and they were credited with possessing magic. To desire beauty for yourself is one of the properties of human nature. Therefore, let's see how to breed butterflies yourself.

You will need

  • Containers, food plants, butterfly eggs.

Instructions

First you need to get eggs. Of course, you can arm yourself with an entomology textbook and carefully examine your garden plot, but they hide eggs very well. Or you can catch it in a net, place it in your home and wait until it lays eggs.

After you have caught a butterfly, you need to plant it in a well-lit container with branches of food. To find out which plant is the food plant for this type of butterfly, refer to the same entomology textbook. It is on the food plant that your captive will lay her eggs.

When the eggs hatch into small caterpillars, transplant them into another container along with a food plant. There is no need to make ventilation holes, since the tracks can simply dry out from lack of moisture. For the same reason, you should not choose a container that is too large for them. Place filter paper on the bottom and it will draw out excess moisture.

After the caterpillars have grown, they are transplanted into a spacious container. Place the branches of the food plant in a jar and wrap it with polyethylene so that the caterpillars do not fall into the water - they drown almost instantly. It is also worth lowering a couple of branches to the bottom of the container so that fallen caterpillars can climb up them.

Before pupation, the caterpillars stop eating and begin to behave restlessly. If you have day butterfly caterpillars, make sure the container has enough branches to support the pupae. Moths pupate in the ground, so if you have them, add a layer of soil to the bottom of the container. And wait for a miracle.

Sources:

  • butterflies in the apartment

The butterfly has always symbolized the human soul, which has gone through all the stages of its formation in order to become truly beautiful. Perhaps this is why exhibitions of exotic butterflies always evoke admiration and delight among adults and children who have seen a real miracle.

Instructions

Contact your local tax office to register an individual entrepreneur or legal entity if you intend to organize exhibitions for commercial gain. If you want to organize a free exhibition on a voluntary basis, then depending on whether it is permanent or one-time, contact the Federal Registration Service to register a non-profit organization (for example, an entomologist club or a nature assistance fund) or obtain permission to hold it from the administration .

Decide whether you will have an exhibition of live butterflies or collections collected by famous entomologists. In the first case, you will have to contact the SES department in order to obtain the following documents: - veterinary certificate; - quarantine act. Before contacting the SES, you will need to agree on all contracts you have concluded for the supply of pupae with the customs service and environmental supervision, since tropical butterflies can be listed in the International Red Book. In order to organize an exhibition of butterfly collections, enter into rental agreements with entomologists.

Having received all the necessary documents from the SES, purchase equipment for the exhibition and, first of all, insectariums for keeping pupae and butterflies, which will maintain optimal levels of temperature and humidity. When organizing an exhibition of collections, prepare stands that can be decorated with panels and photographs.

Find a suitable space for the exhibition or, if you plan to make it permanent, rent and renovate it in accordance with the necessary conditions for keeping butterflies.

Video on the topic

Butterflies are the most beautiful representatives of insects, invariably causing delight and surprise. Tropical species are especially impressive, the colors of which are brighter and more varied than those of their northern counterparts, and their wingspan sometimes reaches 28 cm. In total, there are about 158,000 species of lepidoptera on earth - this is what science calls butterflies. Today, no one is surprised by exotic animals living in apartments. Keeping butterflies at home is also quite possible and justified - a person wants beauty and miracles, and they will bring them on their fluttering wings.

Breeding native butterfly species

Keeping ordinary butterflies - inhabitants of central Russia - will require virtually no expenses from you. First, prepare a place where the larvae will live. An aquarium, a plastic container or a regular three-liter jar will do. Place paper napkins at the bottom. Cover the prepared container with gauze, a mesh or a lid with holes to prevent the caterpillars from crawling out. Gauze or mesh can be secured with a regular elastic band.

The cage is ready, you can go in search of larvae. Please note that you cannot take the caterpillar - you can crush it. It is best to transfer it along with the piece of paper on which you found it. Don't forget about feed. Each species has a specific type of vegetation. Feed your pets the leaves of the plants you picked them from.

Place the caterpillars and food leaves in a prepared container. Under no circumstances should the greenery be allowed to dry out or rot. Periodically spray the napkins with a spray bottle - this will help keep the leaves fresh. Change forage greens daily. You will need a lot of it, because... caterpillars feed almost continuously.

After a few days, they will stop gnawing on the leaves, and some will change color. The pupation period is approaching. As a rule, it takes 2-3 days.

It is good if you have determined in advance what species your future one belongs to, since the time of transformation, and sometimes the necessary cocoons, are different for different species. Typically, pupae are kept at a temperature of 26-28°C and air density of about 60-80%, so do not forget to moisturize your insectarium.

At the same time, there are also wintering species. They need to be “wintered” in the refrigerator at a temperature of 0 to -5°C and constant low humidity. Place the cocoon in a tightly sealed cardboard box. Place a piece of damp cotton wool there so that it does not come into contact with the cocoon. Check periodically and carefully wet the cotton wool to prevent mold from appearing. Place the box in the vegetable compartment. Gradually lower the refrigerator temperature. “Wintering” should last no less than . Then also gradually start increasing the temperature.

The development of pupae of ordinary species lasts about a week. Place a small branch next to the cocoon in advance, or simply hang a strip of toilet paper. The butterfly should hang upside down so that its wings dry and straighten. The butterflies are fed with a solution of honey or sugar, or the juice of overripe fruits.

About breeding exotic species

Exotic butterflies can also be bred and kept at home, but you won’t be able to do this without spending money. You will have to prepare an insectarium for larvae and pupae and a place where your butterflies will then live. In both cases, it is necessary to ensure temperature and humidity close to tropical conditions.

To feed the larvae, you will have to breed exotic plants - it is almost impossible to replace them with local species. A greenhouse is best suited for this purpose, where you can also keep butterflies.

Breeding tropical species begins with the acquisition of pupae, which also requires financial investment. You can purchase cocoons through online stores. Today, unless you are a collector, professional breeding of exotic butterflies is a reason to draw up a business plan, and this is a separate big and serious conversation.