"A small area outside CEC is developed in Butterfly Garden. There are several foodplants as well as nectar plants planted in this garden. At any given time, visitors get to see butterflies seeking nectar or a caterpillar chopping away the leaves and if one is lucky they may get to see butterflies laying eggs or butterfly emerging from a pupa.
(table included gives names of plants and what butterflies feed on them).
If you want our help in developing a butterfly garden at your premises, please contact any of the education team at cecbnhs@gmail.com "
http://www.bnhs.org/library/47-bnhs/cec/...
Hope that gives you enough information to get started.
To breed butterflies you need a male and a female, butterflies are generally not parthenogenic (except the silk moth Bombyx mori). To know the differences between males and females, you can find pictures in the caresheet of the species you have.
Most butterfly species are extremely sensitive to inbreeding. After one or two generations of breeding with brother-sister pairs, the butterflies will be weak and small and cannot reproduce anymore. Therefore you have to breed individuals that came from different parents.
The right environment for breeding
Make sure the male and the female have the appropriate environmental temperature, appropriate and enough food and enough space. When all is well, you will see mating pairs of butterflies. When butterflies mate, a male and a female are attached to each other at the abdomen, both facing the away from each other. This can take half an hour to 8 hours. Make sure not to disturb the animals in any way.
Placing the eggs
Almost immediately after mating the female will find a place to lay her eggs. She perfers to lay the eggs on the leaves of plants that the caterpillars will eat. By placing these leaves in the enclosure, you will give her a target and help her to lay eggs quickly. When you do not provide leaves, she will lay her eggs anywhere.
As soon as the eggs are laid, let them dry for 3 tot 8 hours and then pick them up carefully. When they are attached to a leaf you can take them away immediately be removing the whole leaf from the enclosure of the butterflies. But the eggs in a ventilated box with tissue paper on the bottom. Make sure this paper stays a bit moist and maintain a relatively high humidity inside the box. Do not give mold a chance; make sure the ventilation is enough to dry the insides of the box before you mist the eggs again.
Keep the box at an appropriate temperature for your species of butterfly.
Taking care of the newborn caterpillars
When the caterpillars are born, they are extremely small and delicate. Touching them with your fingers or moving them can be lethal. Without touching them, or by touching them with a light brush, take them out of their hatching box and place them into the place where you want to raise your caterpillars. It is best if all caterpillars in this ‘raising enclosure’ are the same age or instar.
I'm from Bangalore, India. I'm a wildlife enthusiast but I consider butterflies one of the most amusing species there is. I have a pretty huge garden in my house and was wondering if I could get into butterfly breeding. And by that I don't mean for profit or whatever. Just to make my garden more filled with life and colour. And of course to, in whatever ways I could, increase their population.
Of the common species of butterflies in India, four are in my top priority list.
The Common Lime, The Red Pierrot, The Crimson Rose and The Plain Tiger. If you could help me with anything at all that you think I should know, please do. Here are some things you could help me with.
1) Host plants for the above mentioned butterflies. [preferably with common [and not scientific] names and with links]
2)How possible or how tough this might be.
3) Things I could do to attract other butterflies.
4) Other things I should look into.
5) Other species of butterflies that would probably be easier to breed.
6) Pretty much anything you'd like to say.
Thanks in advance :)
