larvae/pupae needed for butterfly vivarium

Sheri Moreau webmistress at mty.com
Mon Mar 16 16:16:21 EST 1998


Hi, all!

I'm in search of larvae or pupae for Mourning Cloak, Red Admiral,
California Dogface, Anise Swallowtail, Pipevine Swallowtail, and other
sorts of common, native, central California butterflies to release in a 650
square foot butterfly vivarium located in Carmel Valley. 

Mariposa de Carmel is a private butterfly garden/vivarium located on one
acre bordering the Carmel River, near Carmel Valley Village. The garden is
featured in the April inaugural issue of the magazine "Rebecca's Garden"
which is an ancillary production of a television show by the same name.

Mariposa de Carmel is owned by Dr. Abraham Kryger, DMD, MD, and is open for
tours and butterfly gardening classes to school groups, retirement home
residents, and other interested individuals by appointment only. 

The property features a wildflower garden, a large pond surrounded by
butterfly host/nectar plants, a shade garden, a compost demonstration site,
picnic area, mushroom garden, and a greenhouse with butterfly host and
nectar plants for sale. The vivarium has a waterfall/pond, paths, benches,
and lots of plants. The ceiling is arched and is 14' high. Oaks, Sycamores
and native Willows are also on the property, serving as host plants for
several butterfly species. John Lane spent some time living in a trailer on
the property several years ago, and identified over 30 butterfly species
occuring naturally there.

Mariposa de Carmel is open for tours from mid-April to mid-October (El Niño
permitting!). One of our goals this year is to have 20 or so butterfly
species present in the vivarium to help open people's eyes to the variety
of butterflies out there (The average American cannot name three (3)
different kinds of butterflies. If you don't believe this statement, just
try asking around...). All monies received from visitors and plant sales go
directly back into improving the property's butterfly habitat and/or
training materials. As primarily a website designer, I'm kinda swamped
right now, and unable to spend a lot of time trying to capture butterflies
to add to the vivarium! Moreover, in our experience, butterflies which
emerge in the vivarium adjust better to captivity than those which have
been flying free.

BTW, I cannot recommend highly enough Dr. Karen Oberhauser/Univ of
Minnesota's publications: A Classroom Guide to the Monarch. There are three
guides, each geared to a different age group (K-2, 3-5, middle school),
each chock-a-block with information, research results, technical drawings,
and copious projects suitable for the ages of the students. The guides are
available through The Monarch Watch website, or directly from the Univ of
Minn <Karen.S.Oberhauser-1 at tc.umn.edu>.

Sheri (408) 625-4312


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