Temp

[Dave McCormick]

whats the right tempreture to have adult butterflies in my breeding tank? My tank is rather large and want to breed some:

Small Tortoiseshells
Small Copper
Peacock

These are in my area and need just to know how to keep adult until they breed. How should I feed them?

I sucessfully breeded 60 white ermine last year, saved the caterpillars from a demolished glasshouse that was going to be taken away.

[Lance]

Well Dave where to start
Butterflies obviously like it warm and airy. If its a glass tank or green house then forget it. It will get to hot and this will kill the butterflies. They really need a large cage made with netting sides. Butterflies love nectar so you can feed them with cut flowers. Plants growing in a pot are better. Cut flowers will require changing daily. Adult butterflies can also be fed with a weak solution of sugar/honey and water mix.
There is a lot more information on the web and books about breeding butterflies and moths which go into far more detail than i can do here.
Some species need more involved treatment than others depending on their life cycle. The species you mention though are easy enough for a beginner. Don't forget caterpillars eat a tremendous amount of food so you will need to make sure you have enough to sustain them.
Hope that helps
Lance

[Pete Eeles]

Hi Dave,

My experience is that most species are best bred outdoors in as natural conditions as you can provide. So I agree with Lance that using a cage with netted sides is best. In addition, it's best to use growing foodplant. Some plants (such as nettle) wither very quickly. The temperature will sort itself out

Cheers,

- Pete

[Dave McCormick]

I making a large box with net sides and no bottom and a net top. I will (warm days) put th box over a patch of nettles and flowers and put butterflies in it and let them fy around, get nectar and breed, like outdoors.

[Lance]

Sounds good. Let us know how you get on