I bought some caterpillars to raise and increase the variety of butterflies in my garden. these are all butterflies that naturally occur in my area- no imports from other states/countries. How this is done, is to keep them in a box to mate and then lay eggs on a food plant. I saw this done w/ a pop-up box thats about 14" cubed. I've seen that even in walk-in enclosures, they will fly toward the edges and flap against the screen to get out. This behavior is increased in a smaller box and I do have a pop-up box that is large enough for me to stand in.
I hate to see them beating their wings on the net. I do have plenty of food to put in the box for them. It seems that after one cycle of breeding, I'd have enough to release them into my yard. What are your thoughts?
Maggie
Butterfly breeding ethics
It does bother me also to see them get their wings beat up...the instinct is usually to get out into the wild as soon as they are ready to fly. Sometimes after I raise some, the weather is so bad I hate to put a new butterfly out in the elements. The popup hampers that are a little over a foot wide and slightly over two feet tall are the best I can do there. But if I were breeding them, I'd want something pretty big. Maybe if you have plenty of host plants you might get eggs even if you release them.