Thursday, October 6, 2011

Raising butterflies

A year and 1/2 before moving to Canada (in my 7th grade), my brother and I started raising butterflies in our basement in France. We built a cubic greenhouse of 2 x 2 x 2 meters. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find any pictures because of a computer crash we got in France, but the structure was build out of tubes of PVC and then covered by a layer of tulle netting. We installed lights to the ceiling of the basement, and moisturizing sprinklers to keep the humidity to 80% (required for tropical butterflies).

Butterflies:
Attacus Atlas
Philosamia Ricini
Bombyx Eri
Papilio Machaon
Papilio Memnon
+a few more names I don't remember.

Stickbugs:
Aretaon asperrimus
Eurycantha calcarata


I also at the time liked catching and collecting butterflies, but I have stopped since then this barbaric act ;) 

Many of the butterflies in those frames are actually ones we raised, notably the huge Attacus Atlas at the far left in the frame just above.








Another greenhouse we creatively made out of a useless thing my dad was storing in the basement.



It served as an eclosion area for the Attacus Atlas and the other noctural butterflies we raised.

And still another area to raise butterflies, in my bedroom, made out of a playing tunnel.




Raising mantis we caught. 





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