Subject: Re: Butterfly Feeders

From: [email-masked] (MikeDunn)
Date: 4 May 1995 20:13:58 -0400

I misssed the on-line discussion of butterfly houses and would be curious
as to the main gist of the discussion...my assumption is they are
primarily a smart marketing ploy for garden supply houses but in reality
are not used by butterflies except by accident. Also, re: feeders, I had
one out last summer as a test (I work with schools and had been asked
about them by teachers) and I never saw it being used by butterflies. An
aside that I am interested in is a "ladybug house" that I saw advertised
recently. It seems like it could work if placed where the newly introduced
species of ladybug is trying to enter houses to overwinter here in the
southeast. Any thoughts?
Mike

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From: Orley Taylor <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 9 May 1995 10:36:02 -0500

On Tue, 25 Apr 1995, Alan hern wrote:

> I use a 20 per cent sucrose solution with a few drops of food colouring (egg
> yellow).  I've found that after a week the whole thing needs washing due to
> fungal/bacterial growth.  I built my own feeders out of a white perspex sheet
> with holes drilled through and attached test tubes.  I use this in cages and
> it works fine.  I've no idea how effective it would be in the field.
> Alan Hern
> [email-masked].
> Scottish Agricultural College.
>
        Another suggestion for maintaining butterflies on artificial nectar:

        We have maintained a continuous culture of monarchs for the last
18 months. We attempted to feed the adults with sucrose solutions and
diluted honey for some time but constantly had problems with fermentation
of the mixtures. Feeding dishes had to be cleaned frequently - usually
every other day.  Brian Hurt, a lepidopterist from Austin suggested a
better way and most of the following was adopted from his suggestions.
The following formula never ferments and is feed upon readily by the
butterflies.  We clean out the feeding dishes once every two weeks! To
make two liters of the "butterfly juice or nectar" mix 300gms sugar, 8gms
ascorbic acid, 4gms sorbic acid, 4gms methyl paraben, 2gms pollen, 6drops
yellow or red dye, 2-4 drops anise, mint or other flavor with 2 liters water.
Store in a refrig until use. More information on rearing monarchs can be
found on our homepage for the Monarch Watch.  Our address on the www is
http://129.237.246.134/      Chip Taylor  Director - Monarch Watch