Breeding Butterflies and Breeding Butterflies for weddings
Breeding Butterflies by students for school projects, the release at weddings as confetti , or purely as a hobby is fascinating for the observer to watch and enjoy. The butterfly’s life cycle has everyone spell bound as the transitions of metamorphosis takes place in front of your very eyes. These small miracles have hypnotized thousands, if not millions of people all over the world.
Breeding Butterflies in South Africa has become a lucrative business for those who have learned the proper procedures of various Breeding Methods that have proved to be successful. During 2000 – 2008, many butterfly farms were opened in South Africa and started supplying butterflies for weddings. Most of them have closed down due to inadequate breeding methods and those out to make a fast buck. Only one breeding facility remains. The South African Butterfly Breeding Association (SABBA) has provided courses for Independent Butterfly Breeding Stations, Butterfly Breeding Centres and Butterfly Sanctuaries who breed butterflies for weddings or tourist attractions, under the guidance of (SABBA) and have been very successful. This is due to individual locality programs based in various areas in South Africa, where breeders are continually researching methods that have proved to be successful and in so doing have mastered the breeding programs set out by (SABBA). Great care is taken to avoid in-breeding of species by introducing fresh specimens (DNA) from different offspring to keep the gene pool varied and strong.
Courses are provided by (SABBA) for individuals to breed butterflies successfully. Our students usually start with a basic course, allowing individuals to breed firstly common type locality butterflies in their respective areas. This includes the preparation for a lepidome structure to house the plants, allowing for a natural setting. Providing the student with gravid (pregnant) females that would give anything from 80 – 200 ovum (eggs). Incubation trays, chrysalis nurseries and packaging are provided to prepare the student for a lucrative business. Leads for weddings, school functions, birthday parties and other functions are provided to the breeder once they have become successful in their breeding programs.
Common Type Locality Butterflies
Here are some common type butterflies to make a choice from for breeding course programs. These common type locality butterflies are easy to breed and present no difficulty for the novice. As a new breeder, these hardy butterflies are some of the 58 butterfly species that one can choose from.
Symbiotic Relationships
Breeders should not attempt to breed butterflies that have a symbiotic relationship with other insects or creatures. Only experts who have studied all aspects of those related relationships and have been trained to breed such moths or butterfly species should be allowed to breed all or any part of that relationship under the provision made by (SABBA). Other courses are provided for this in-depth study and are quite expensive.
Breeding Methods?
There are many breeding methods for the breeding of butterflies or moths. Not every species has the same habitat, nor the same natural breeding process or feed on the same host plants. Virtually each butterfly or moth species have a unique breeding pattern. These individualized breeding methods for the individual breeding pattern presented by (SABBA) have proved to be 80% more successful than when the moth or butterfly species is left in the wild to fend for itself. Only 3% of all laid butterfly eggs in the wild will survive.