The butterflies in the Magic Wings Butterfly House are world travelers. They hatched as caterpillars in tropical rainforests in the Philippines, Malaysia, Africa, South America and Central America. They ate and grew until they transformed into chrysalises wrapped in a protective cocoon. Then they were collected by butterfly farmers, carefully packed, and shipped to Durham. You can see the butterflies emerge from their chrysalises before being released into the Butterfly House. But you will never see butterfly eggs or caterpillars.

Kipepeo Butterfly Farm
Some of our butterflies come from the Kipepeo Butterfly farm. It is part of the Kipepeo Project, launched in 1993 by the National Museum of Kenya to save the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, conserve its rare butterfly species and promote the local economy. At first locals opposed conserving the forest. It returned no profits and provided habitat for elephants and baboons that damaged their crops. By providing a sustainable income source, the Kipepeo project partially compensates nearby farmers for their losses.

A total of 150 local farmers were trained to rear butterfly larvae feeding them with the native trees' leaves. Kipepeo raises the eggs and gives out the newly hatched larvae to the farmers, who rear the caterpillars and sell back the pupae to Kipepeo. The Project then ships the pupae via courier to us.

Costa Rica Entomology Supply, Costa Rica
Costa Rica Entomology Supply was established in 1983. It now supports a network of 80 butterfly farmers. Butterfly farming is one more sustainable industry that is providing income to the population while protecting the rainforests of Costa Rica.