On many mornings, Richard Stickney can be found in the “Emerging Wonders Room,” waiting for another new butterfly to emerge from its chrysalis. He waits, eager to gently assist any insect that struggles to bring its delicate wings out of its hard shell. The births happen nearly every day, as the Museum works with worldwide suppliers to constantly rotate new butterflies into the exhibit.

In fact, the Museum spends almost $60,000 a year to bring a variety of non-native butterfly species into the Museum, says Uli Hartmond, director of the Museum’s expansive butterfly house.

About 500 new insects arrive each week, packed in cardboard boxes from exotic locales including Costa Rica, Suriname and Malaysia. The insects are shipped while they’re in the pupae stage of development, which is when a caterpillar has shed its skin for the last time, and the new layer forms a hard shell enclosing the chrysalis. The caterpillar remains inside for up to two weeks, its body slowly morphing into that of a flying creature.

“Caterpillars are so fragile, they’re not suitable for international shipping,” Hartmond says. “The eggs would be the easiest stage to ship. But to rear caterpillars and butterflies from eggs, the exhibit would have to grow a large amount of suitable host plants for each species, not very feasible under our conditions. So shipping chrysalises is what most suppliers focus on. The suppliers of the creatures either breed them in greenhouses, or work with farmers who breed and hand-pick the chrysalises off their plants and sell them to wholesalers to make some additional income.”

The size of a chrysalis depends on the species and varies in size from a half-inch to an inch and one-half. They appear in shades of green, brown and even with hints of metallic gold, are packed loosely between layers of cotton batting or styrofoam and shipped airfreight to the Museum by common carrier. When the boxes arrive, they are taken to be opened in a secure room to prevent the escape of any non-native pests that might have stowed away on the chrysalises, Hartmond explains.

Staff members then glue the tips of the chrysalises to lengths of twine and hang the insects up, mimicking the way they would naturally dangle from trees or plants. Soon, the butterflies poke out of the bottom of the chrysalis and get ready to join hundreds of others in the Museum’s lush conservatory.

Not every chrysalis produces a healthy butterfly. Some never push their way out. Others emerge with deformed wings. “Mother nature makes mistakes,” Stickney says. “Usually that means they weren’t strong enough to survive. It’s survival of the fittest.”

As for the butterflies that do make it to the conservatory, they have just a couple of short weeks of life to flit about and educate and entertain Museum visitors. One day, a mature butterfly will simply sit on a plant or on the ground and fail to get back up, Hartmond says. The expired insects, still brilliant, are placed in petri dishes and given to schools for observation. When one leaves, there are plenty more to take its place.

The museum keeps as many as 1,000 individual butterflies in the conservatory at once, representing nearly 100 species.

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.