The Butterfly House Industry: Opportunity for the Average Person to See Them up Close and on Demand
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Lost in Translation In 1972, NABA President Jeffrey Glassberg was a graduate student at Rice A young girl smiles at University, in Houston, Texas. One day he the beauty and closeness of visited the zoo and was particularly struck a female by the aviary. He thought of stocking the aviary with butterflies but realized that Red-bodied Swallowtail the birds might not be compatible with (Atrophaneura semperi), butterfly good health. But, heliconians, native to the Philippines, known to be unpalatable to birds and slow at the Sophia M. Sachs flying, might be a perfect fit. Butterfly House at the He spoke with the director of the zoo, Missouri Botanical Garden. who was enthusiastic, and then contacted Larry Gilbert, a Professor of Zoology Apr. 7, 2008. St. Louis, MO. at U.T. Austin who actively worked on heliconians. A meeting was arranged at the zoo. On the appointed day, as Dr. Gilbert approached Houston, he was involved in Heather Marie Osborne/Missouri Botanical Garden a car accident. Fortunately, there were pg 24). Butterflies are very popular — for no serious injuries to people, however the many the only ‘good’ insects — but, until the accident mortally wounded the idea of the advent of the butterfly house, there was little first butterfly house! The Butterfly House Industry: opportunity for the average person to see them up close and on demand. The BHI was established during a period Conservation Risks of changing attitudes to conservation in ‘farming’ to produce livestock of native general, and insects in particular. In addressing and exotic species (largely for amateur both the environmental risks and conservation entomologists); development in mid-20th and Education Opportunities opportunities created by the BHI, we seek century of the concept of butterfly gardening answers to three fundamental questions: to encourage native species for pleasure by Michael Boppré and Richard I. Vane-Wright to what extent is the industry a threat to and conservation; foundation of the Insect biodiversity, to what extent is it a benefit to Farming and Trading Agency in Papua New conservation and environmental education, Guinea in 1978, with the express mission to What is the Butterfly House Industry? Unlike traditional invertebrate and how can it be managed and regulated to ranch exceptionally desirable and supposedly The emergence over the past three decades terrariums included by some zoos, with minimize the former and maximize the latter? endangered butterflies (e.g., birdwings) for of live butterfly exhibits as fashionable ants, grasshoppers, spiders and scorpions collectors to promote species and habitat leisure attractions has created a new global in glass-fronted cases and occasional INSECT TRADING: conservation in a sustainable manner through phenomenon: the Butterfly House Industry hands-on demonstrations of stick-insects and PAST AND PRESENT local economic benefits and the emergence (BHI). The key innovation was the “butterfly cockroaches, the butterfly house visitor is free Insect trading has a long and complex history. from about 1980 of the live butterfly house as house”: a walk-through vivarium in which to roam the whole space, typically planted and Trade in butterflies goes back to post- a public entertainment, notably Clive Farrell’s curious people and beautiful insects share landscaped like a tropical garden, and interact Renaissance, Enlightenment Europe, when London Butterfly House. the same space. Its success has been with all the creatures on display. For a child to “cabinets of curiosity” became fashionable Farrell wanted to share his passion for made possible by means of electronic have a spectacular butterfly flutter just in front among the rich. Four historical innovations butterflies with the public at large, especially communication, rapid transportation, and mass of her, or land spontaneously on his head, can underpin the BHI: development in late 19th children — to create not only enthusiasm for production of butterfly livestock. be a highly affective experience (see photo century Europe of commercial butterfly butterflies and other invertebrates, but also 24 American Butterflies,Spring 2014 25 Brad Alston Photography Brad Quite a few butterfly houses are seasonal, including exhibits at the American Museum of Natural History and the Bronx Zoo, both in New York, and in the Conservatory of the Rlevese Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, Virginia, shown above. Aug. 2012. Butterfly houses range from governmentally operated — such as the Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory shown above — to non-profit entities such as the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House at the Missouri Botanical Garden, to for-profit corporations, such as July 21, 2010. Butterfly World in Coconut Creek, Florida. of a booming industry involving several in such a process can have social, economic groups of stakeholders: breeders and farmers and environmental benefits: Butterfly farming (producers), suppliers (dealers), and exhibitors allows the local community to diversify their contribute to education. The main innovation, butterfly park. However, for consistency we along with visitors (the ‘consumers’ in this income generating activities and to work at first introduced by David Lowe in Guernsey use butterfly house throughout to refer to the economic system), all with different interests, home around childcare and domestic duties. in 1976, was presentation of exotic butterflies London Butterfly House type of exhibition, knowledge, responsibilities and needs. The It also raises awareness among residents within a simulated tropical environment, in restricting butterfly garden to open-air basis of the industry is that live butterfly pupas and decision makers of the benefits of the form of a plant-filled, hot and humid ‘walk developments where only native butterflies (chrysalids) are mass-produced for the regular conservation. through’ greenhouse in which young and are encouraged to visit and, if possible, breed re-stocking required due to the relatively short old were free to explore. Farrell’s successful naturally. Butterfly gardens have a different adult lifespan of butterflies. Suppliers enterprise also stimulated the next key step: history. Suppliers are also diverse, from local establishment of commercial butterfly farms in CURRENT EXTENT AND PHILOSOPHY businesses handling hundreds of pupas per the tropics needed to stock the exhibits, such NEW DIMENSIONS: INTERNET OF THE BHI week to those operating internationally and as the large scale facilities created in Costa COMMUNICATION AND COURIER Breeders dealing with thousands. Again, we have little Rica in 1983 and Malaysia in 1986. SHIPPING Breeders (often called farmers) run the idea of numbers but many people are involved. The London Butterfly House became a Rapid communication and fast, small-volume gamut from single people or families to large prototype for the modern temperate-region courier services made ordering and shipping butterfly farms that can have many employees. Exhibits live tropical butterfly exhibition — a particular pupas and the display of live butterflies much Many hundreds of breeders are involved, Great diversity is characteristic of butterfly type of insect zoo often termed a butterfly easier and, together with the pioneer initiatives notably in tropical countries. Being engaged houses too, ranging from family enterprises zoo, butterfly garden, butterfly center, or of the late 1970s, led to the establishment 26 American Butterflies,Spring 2014 27 The number of pupas that an exhibit uses exhibitors: unsustainable production; potential per unit display area depends not only on introduction of aliens through translocation; how extensively an exhibition is stocked but inter- and intraspecific genetic mixing; and also on butterfly welfare; there are enormous trafficking of diseases. differences in butterfly life-spans in different exhibits due to the varied conditions the Risks due to changes in breeding methods butterflies experience. A medium-sized exhibit The New Guinea ranching model, based on a may use about 30,000 pupas per year. conservation ethic, is not suited to the current needs of the BHI. Large-scale commercial Visitors breeding of tropical butterflies has shifted Currently, several exhibits in Europe each from ‘small volume with high unit value’ attract more than one million visitors per to ‘large volume with small unit value’. year. Globally, we conservatively estimate However, although the prime conservation 40 million visit butterfly houses and butterfly philosophy has largely been dropped, the idea gardens per year — 26 million in the United of producing a cash crop beneficial to local States alone. people has survived (see below). Philosophy Butterfly farming: breeding, ranching or Diversity within the BHI does not just rest rearing? Mass production can only be in numbers of species, visitors, exhibition achieved reliably by breeding. Starting with sizes, etc. There is also much variation in the a small number of founder individuals from underlying motivations and goals pursued in the wild, butterflies can be bred, generation creating and running an exhibit. A personal after generation, in confinement. This requires quest to share a wonder in butterflies and facilities that provide adequate food, good Brad Alston Photography Brad educate people about them is one, others physical conditions (e.g., temperature, It’s tough for the average Joe or Jane to see spectacular Indo-Australian Birdwings — in engage in edutainment, and yet others focus humidity),