This is our breeding room. Don’t forget to close the doors after entering! Here we start our breeding process, which undergoes four different stages. After collecting the eggs from the flight areas, the eggs are placed in containers so they can continue their metamorphosis. Larvae, which are commonly known as caterpillars, are what hatch from the eggs. The caterpillars will go through a rotation process that involves restocking the food supply, cleaning each container, and eliminating any pupae that are infected. This helps decrease the risk of disease from spreading. This process is repeated daily until the caterpillars form their chrysalis. While in the chrysalis, the larvae will spend this time slowly transitioning to their final form; a butterfly!

 

Now that they have formed their chrysalis, Butterfly Dan’s can fulfill orders from zoos, conservatories and museums across the country! Butterfly Dan’s supplies butterflies to over 30 different businesses! When we ship out chrysalises, we carefully wrap them in soft tissue paper and then package them in a box. A portion of the formed butterflies will be mailed out to these businesses. The remaining butterflies will be placed back into the flight areas to continue the breeding process.

 

Depending on the time of the year, Butterfly Dan’s raises between fifteen to twenty different butterfly species. This is all based on the season and food supply at the time. Some of our butterflies are not brought to this indoor breeding room. Certain species of ours thrive better being bred outside instead. You will be able to see some of those species further in your tour. 

 

One final note: we have four filtration systems in our breeding room. These filters are able to clear .3 microns of bacteria in the air which is essential for keeping our butterflies alive and disease free.