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  • From: "wenshidi@yahoo.co.uk" <wenshidi@yahoo.co.uk>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] Butterfly farming
  • Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2010 03:45:08 +0000 (GMT)

Could this be a fesibale addition to a permaculturist's toolset?

Chris

Butterfly Farming

There are about 14,000 species of butterflies in the world. Since the most
diverse
and colorful species are in the tropics, the best chance for success in
butterfly farming
lies there. Butterfly farming is currently a successful and growing new
industry in
Papua New Guinea. Natives are earning money and practicing sound wildlife
conservation with this new and profitable cash crop! In fact, all insect
sales in Papua
New Guinea are managed by the government and sponsored by their Insect Farming
and Trading Agency. In addition, all profits are returned to the villagers
without
middleman charges. Papua New Guinea is the only country so far to specify
insect
conservation as a national objective in the constitution of its country.
There is presently an international demand for tropical butterflies that is
greater
than generally recognized. Some buyers are scientists engaged in research;
others are specialty collectors; and still others are artisans that
incorporate a high volume of
butterfly wings in expensive curios, coffee tables and wall hangings. With a
diverse
variety of 350 different native butterfly species, Taiwan butterfly factories
design
many artistic items with butterfly wings. Typically, workers are seated at
tables
where piles of butterflies are processed (up to 50 million annually). The
wings are
detached, pasted onto simulated paper bodies with pig bristle antennae and
then
laminated between vinyl sheets for book markers, table mats, coasters or even
toilet
seats. In Brazil, the mosaic-like collages of butterfly wings are
artistically arranged to
depict scenes and famous personages. The strong and active international
market is
estimated to be trading in over $20 million worth of butterflies each year.
Due to this increasing demand, regulatory laws in many countries have
forbidden
the capture and sale of certain rare butterfly varieties. As with other
endangered
animal species, raising the rare butterflies has become the logical option.
The market
is wide open, for currently only 10% of the demand for tropical butterflies
is being
filled. In fact, farming butterflies can become a much more profitable crop
than
raising vegetables and standard livestock. To be successful, villagers must
learn a lot
about the life cycles of their indigenous butterflies, including their
habitats, behavior,
habits, and the forage plants for their caterpillars. Besides pollinating
crops (second
best only to bees), butterflies often are a major link in animal food chains
and serve as
sensitive indicators in local ecological health. Maintaining a butterfly
garden also
contributes greatly to the beauty of the countryside.
Basically, farming butterflies is totally an open air arrangement. Once
valuable
species (up to $100 or more per specimen) for an area are ascertained, the
planting of their favorite food plants must be initiated and carefully
maintained. Often such
plants are just as rare as the butterflies themselves. In fact, a depletion
of certain plant species can often result in the extinction of many butterfly
species. Due to
deforestation by cattle ranchers and the logging industry of vast tracts of
jungle land.
The corresponding loss of habitats has extinguished many populations of rare
butterflies. This has resulted in a seriously fragmented butterfly
distribution over a
formerly undisturbed jungle range.
By creating butterfly pastures with their favorite vines and shrubs, the
rarest
winged livestock can be encouraged to propagate near a chosen location. These
growing food plants must be watered, weeded, pruned and kept free of
encroaching
animals. At times, the plants can be successfully intercropped between rows
in a
normal vegetable garden. Caterpillars consume plant foliage to continuously
grow,
molt and grow again, whereas adult butterflies concentrate on the nectar of
flowers
(certain colors often being the important attractant). Therefore a productive
butterfly
farm should include foraging plants for the larvae and flowering foliage for
the
breeding adults. Once a successful butterfly farm is established, chrysalides
(the
resting or pupating stage between larva and adult) can be collected on a
daily basis.
Ideally, about 50% of the chrysalides should be left to help replenish the
wild supply.
Those pupae that are too high to reach and those that are not quite perfect
can be left
to emerge naturally. The collected pupae are kept in a small cage and
monitored for
emergence. After an emerging butterfly has completely dried its wings, it is
carefully
caught by the thorax and injected with a small amount of a killing agent.
Damaged
wings reduce a butterfly's value drastically. In the tropics, butterflies
live from only
a matter of weeks to several months, and must mate and lay their eggs on an
appropriate plant within that time.
For the peasant farmer, open air arrangements are inexpensive and ecologically
sound management of the natural jungle environment. For the serious
professional,
more ornate dome enclosures could be constructed to ensure quality control.
Invading birds, monkeys or alien insects could be kept out of the farm more
easily
and production levels could be better maintained. London butterfly garden
enclosures
serve as tourist attractions and learning facilities for students. Certain
endangered
British butterflies have even been adapted to artificial diets.
Some butterflies are attracted to the unsweet odor of decaying waste or flesh.
Others are drawn long distances to the smell of urine and fermenting fruits
(e.g.
Morphos love rotting bananas). In some countries, butterfly farmers attract
their
winged livestock by baiting an area with dead fish, or painting stones with
urine,
sugar syrup or rotten fruit. To the sophisticated collector, chemical
replication of the
female sex attractant or pheromone could be released in appropriate areas to
attract
males.
In Peru, certain members of the Heliconiidae family can survive for up to 6
months because they digest protein enriched pollen as well as nectar from
flowers.
Peruvian peasants can also farm the Morpho and Agrias genera as well as
certain
members of the family Satyridae. In fact, as a creative alternative to coca
plant
production, small butterfly farms could be easily established by any peasant
in
tropical Peru with quite lucrative results! Butterfly Farming In Papua New
Guinea is
an informative pamphlet obtainable through: Board on Science and Technology
For International Development (BOSTID), Office of International Affairs,
National Research Council, 2101 Constitution Ave., Washington, D.C. 20418.
In Colombia, many peasant farmers have converted from growing cocoa plants to
growing mulberry trees. Mulberry leaves feed silkworms, which in turn spin
highpriced
cocoons that earn farmers up to 3 times as much per month as they could earn
in growing cocoa plants. Through the efforts of Patricia Conway, the "Silk
for Life"
project has given farmers a viable alternative to cocoa growing.
Mulberry trees can easily be grown by simple stick cuttings in the ground, and
moderate sized trees are produced in a year's time. A new silkworm cycle
begins
every 5 weeks when the larvae are ready to feed on mulberry leaves. After
gorging
for 3 weeks, the silkworm anchors itself and spins a symmetrical, silken
cocoon
around its body. If left to complete its cycle, it would emerge as a moth,
mate, lays
eggs and die. Farmed cocoons are not allowed to emerge though. Instead they
are
baked to kill the pupae, then sold to companies that unravel the cocoons into
silk
thread. In Japan, silk farmers can expect to get 2 or 3 crops per year. Andean
farmers on the other hand can reap up to 10 crops a year. Organizing
themselves into
small associations, Colombian farmers have even started direct importation of
eggs
from Korea and direct sale of reeled silk to a silk company in NY. Except for
the
occasional herbicide spraying by U.S. backed drug enforcers, silk farmers
might yet
grow into a burgeoning industry in Colombia.








  • [permaculture] Butterfly farming, wenshidi@yahoo.co.uk, 12/11/2010

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