ALL IMAGES AND CONTENT ON THIS SITE ARE © COPYRIGHT AND MAY NOT BE USED FOR ANY PURPOSE BY OTHERS.
Homepage Purple Emperor image from www.ukbutterflies.co.uk. Photographer Peter Eeles.
POSTING IS TO THE UK ONLY.
POSTAGE IS BY STANDARD 1st CLASS MAIL AT THE CUSTOMERS OWN RISK, IF YOU DO NOT AGREE YOU MUST SELECT NEXT DAY DELIVERY.
If a ordered species becomes unavailable for some reason, a refund will be issued immediately and not carried over to the next year like other sites do in the hope you will forget about it.
If you need more information regarding the breeding of butterflies and moths, please buy a book or look for information on the internet, there is plenty out there!
Winter pupae should be stored in plastic boxes and kept in a cool dry dark place until March.They should then be laid out in a emergence cage and sprayed daily with tepid water until the adults emerge.
Butterfly pupae should where possible be hung up on a cane or piece of string with a small amount of glue to the cremaster (tail end), Copydex is ideal for doing this.You can also lay the pupae on the bottom of the cage but a few may not escape the pupa case properly and produce crippled adults. Do not keep in the sun or direct heat source.
BEWARE IF BUYING PLANTS FROM GARDEN CENTRES TO FEED LARVAE AS THE CHANCES ARE THEY HAVE BEEN SPRAYED OR THE COMPOST CONTAINS INSECTICIDE.
B&Q and HOMEBASE PLANTS SEEM TO BE OK AT THE PRESENT TIME BUT I CANNOT GUARANTEE THIS.
RE. PLANT FOOD, MIRACLE GROW, PHOSTROGEN etc.
THESE ARE ALSO FATAL TO LARVAE OF MOST SPECIES AND SHOULD BE AVOIDED.
COMPOST THESE DAYS ALSO CONTAINS MORE PLANT FOOD THAN THEY USED TO AND CAN ALSO BE FATAL.
All species listed on this site are suitable for release into the wild to increase numbers and to introduce new genes into existing populations, except those not on the British List marked*. Take no notice of Butterfly Conservation and Moth recording groups who say this is wrong or against the law, which it is not.
It is against the law to collect or kill in the UK, any of the following 5 species, English Swallowtail , Highbrown Fritillary, Large Blue, Marsh Fritillary, and Heath Fritillary, at any stage of development, ie ova, larvae, pupae or adults. The Large Copper is extinct so cannot be added to this list.
The following species are protected from sale, this means you cannot capture a wild specimen to sell alive or dead but you can legally capture it for yourself as a set specimen or to breed from. Any resulting specimens or livestock from breeding is then classed as Captive Bred
Adonis Blue, Black Hairstreak, Brown Hairstreak, Chalkhill Blue, Duke of Burgundy, Glanville Fritillary, Large Heath, Lulworth Skipper, Mountain Ringlet, Northern Brown Argus, Purple Emperor, Silver Studded Blue, Small Blue, White Letter Hairstreak, Wood White, Chequered Skipper, Pearl Bordered Fritillary and Silver Spotted Skipper. The Large Tortoiseshell is extinct and cannot be added to this list.
THIS ACT APPLIES TO WILD SPECIMENS ONLY AND NOT CAPTIVE BRED SPECIMENS OR LIVESTOCK.
IT IS ADVISABLE FOR ANYBODY PURCHASING SPECIES COVERED BY THE LAW TO RETAIN A RECEIPT AS PROOF OF PURCHASE.