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Rearing Butterflies can be an interesting pursuit and extremely educational. Like many pursuits, there are certain rules,
regulations and common
sense which should be
adhered to to get the most
out of rearing butterflies
without causing damage to
wild populations, their
habitats and individual insects.
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Important considerations when rearing butterflies |
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When rearing butterflies for educational or research purposes, there are certain ethics and standards which I feel everyone should adhere to. There are also strict laws governing some of our protected species. Ignorance of these laws is no defence.
Top Five Tips
1. Rear only commons species (see top five recommended species below).
2. Know the law regarding protected species.
3. Adhere to local by-laws.
4. Collect only one or two eggs or larvae.
5. Release adult butterflies at the exact location from where the eggs or larvae we collected.
Top Five Recommended Species
1. Peacock - easy to rear on common nettles.
2. Large White - Leave a pot of Nasturtiums in the garden... the butterflies will come to you and lay.
3. Orange-tip - rear larvae individually on Garlic/Hedge Mustard (larvae can be cannibalistic).
4. Holly Blue - easy to rear on Ivy in the autumn - eggs/larvae can be hard to find.
5. Speckled Wood - easy to rear on potted wild grass - eggs/larvae can be hard to find.
Where to release the adult butterflies?
DO NOT release species into areas where they do not occur naturally.
ITS OK IF you are simply rearing through eggs or ova which you personally collected locally and are not protected species. So long as these are released at the same location from which they were collected, no harm will be done.
DO NOT release any livestock which did not originate from the area into which you intend to release. If the specimens you release are not local, they may be of a different
subspecies or require slightly different habitats due to variations in their genetic makeup. It is important to note that not all
subspecies are necessarily distinguishable to the naked eye.
Releasing livestock from a captive bred source may artificially distort recording and conservation efforts. Many volunteers monitor butterfly numbers throughout the year across the UK in order to development a good scientific
understanding of species status. Where declines in numbers occur, effective action to prevent
those declines can take place.
DO NOT release livestock which you have purchased from breeders and livestock dealers into the wild. The origin of such livestock is often dubious and you may also be introducing genetic weaknesses into the wild population as a result of in-breeding caused by captive breeding programs. |
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Butterflies Protected by Law |
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The UK Wildlife and Countryside Act gives the Heath Fritillary, Large Blue, Swallowtail , Marsh Fritillary, Large
Copper and High
Brown Fritillary full protection.
It is a criminal offence to disturb in any way or collect these species as eggs, caterpillars, chrysalis or adults. This includes netting adults to aid identification in the field even if they are released unharmed. Rearing these species from wild collected stock is illegal.
The following species are protected by the UK Wildlife and Countryside Act by prohibition of sale only.
Adonis Blue, Black Hairstreak, Brown Hairstreak, Chalkhill Blue, Chequered Skipper, Duke of Burgundy, Glanville Fritillary, Large Heath, Large Tortoiseshell, Lulworth Skipper, Marsh Fritillary, Mountain Ringlet, Northern Brown Argus, Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Purple Emperor, Silver-spotted Skipper, Silver-studded Blue, Small Blue, White-letter Hairstreak, Wood White.
Anyone found selling these species (eggs, larvae, pupae, adult butterflies or 'pinned' specimens) are breaking the law unless they have a special permit/licence and could face a prison sentence or heavy fines for selling these species.
More Information
Further documentation concerning the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act (with amendments) can be found on the Office of Public Sector Archives web site. |
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Above: Close-up view of a White-letter Hairstreak larva... actual size 11mm in length.
Observing the development of butterflies from the egg to the adult butterfly provides opportunities to get intimate views of eggs, larva, pupa and adult butterfly. |
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White-letter Hairstreak |
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The White-letter Hairstreak is a relatively easy species to rear. Single larvae may be kept in small plastic containers and given fresh food each day.
This larvae was reared from a single egg collected from a known colony near my home where many other eggs were located but left alone in the wild.
The adult butterfly from this larvae was released at the same location within 24 hours of the butterfly emerging from the pupae. |
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Above: larvae of the White-letter Hairstreak feeding on Elm within a small clear plastic container. |
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