5.16.2010

The Truth About Butterflies in Glass Cases

I wont lie, I love these butterflies in glass cases.  I saw these butterfly cases many places in Peru while I traveled but I waited until I got to the Amazon to purchase some.  

So here's the truth (and it's a sad story) about these beauties.  After I had purchased these, I went to a butterfly farm on the Amazon River (this is where I held the baby sloth and baby ocelot).  As we were walking through the butterfly farm I asked the owner what she thought of the butterflies in cases. The owner proceeded to tell me of how these beautiful creatures come to their doom.  

Many sellers will tell you that they find dead butterflies on the jungle floors of South America, this is a LIE. The jungles are covered with ants that eat the dead butterflies in the matter of seconds.  The butterflies bodies contain vital protein to the ants.  

What really happens is hunters go out, set up nets where the butterflies can get in and can't get out.  They tempt them with sweet nectar in the center of the nets.   The owner of the butterfly farm, Gudrun Sperrer,
 went with a local hunter to see what exactly happens.   She said in one afternoon they caught 467 butterflies!  One afternoon!  And when they got to the net the man killed them all with poisonous gas without looking to see what was inside. 

That is how these beauties come to be in these glass cases for your enjoyment.

Now this wouldn't be a problem if it was in moderation and if there were more butterfly farms to cultivate more butterflies. The fact is, there is ONLY one legitimate butterfly farm in all Peru; The Amazon Animal Orphanage & Pilpintuwasi Butterfly FarmGudrun Sperrer is only one person researching the host plant of the 2,000 unique butterflies native to the Amazon Jungle.  The host plant is vital in the farming of butterflies.  The caterpillars only eat one plant.  Without knowing what they eat you cannot breed them.  

Gudrun Sperrer has found the only 47 host plants of 47 Amazon Butterflies.  There are 1,957 more host plants to find.  It has taken her more than 20 years to collect those 47 different host plants.  We can't keep using the resources in the Amazon without doing our part to farm and cultivate what resources we are using and diminishing.  The fact is many of the resources in the Amazon are not protected and are being used at a rapid rate without the research and restrictions to learn about what we are using up and to protect these things from extinction.  

I encourage you not to buy these butterflies in cases.  If you do make sure that you know where they are coming from, though you might be lied to on how they caught these butterflies.  If it is from Central and  South America, more than likely these butterflies were hunted.  They say they are farmed to make you feel better. 

If you do buy these, I encourage you to donate to the butterfly farm to aid the researching of the host plants and the farming of Amazon butterflies.  

For more info on the Amazon Animal Orphanage and Butterfly Farm go {here}

Other ways to incorporate butterflies in your home:

46 comments:

VM Creation Atelier said...

Oh,my Godness!!!-)*
Such a wonderful and SO intresting post,darling Rachael***

I never knows it about the butterflies and indeed how much different kinds of...I can't to choose and it likes as a fabulous paintings...The are SO different and SO great!!!
Thank you for share these story and unbelievebly nice photos of these beauties:-)))*

Love,
***Violetta***

Claire Kiefer said...

I am much more interested in the paper butterflies . . . that story is way too sad! 467 dead butterflies in one day? Ugh, devastating. :(

Mere said...

Thanks for the information---this is too sad.

Sarah B said...

What a great post. I've always felt sad when I see the framed butterflies. I really hope people begin more and more to understand that it's not a nice thing.
Thanks :)

Free Pretty Things For You said...

awwww! :( So horrible!
I LOVE butterflies! as you can tell from my logo and all my butterfly crafts! :)
thank you for the super informative post my dear!
i will continue with my paper butterflies to adorn my house!
XOXO
keren

julianne. said...

ohh poor beautiful things.
i love your alternative.<3

Unknown said...

LOVe that 3rd photo... I love framed butterflies.



http://diyainherstilettos.blogspot.com/

Joanne said...

It's something I've never even thought about before. How AWFUL. I don't have any butterflies in cases thank goodness, and I never will now.

lisa golightly said...

What a beautiful array of images. They bring such joy don't they ?. Love your music love your blog .... so glad I found you ! Lisa

Claire said...

Thats really interesting, the poor pretties :( I won't be buying anything like that!

Erimentha said...

i love butterflies, but never dead or captured.

thanks for the post, simply beautiful!

xxx

Diana Mieczan said...

Ohh that is so sad! I can’t believe there are people like that....I will never buy it :)
It’s so unfair that people have to destroy something so beautiful :)
Thank you so much for sharing this post with us!
Kisses and have a lovely week ahead!

Clare said...

how awful! that actually makes me feel sick, i have quite a strong affinity with butterflies and i admore their freedom so much. how horrible :(. well done for bringing it up xx

Jessica Marie said...

Thanks for the lovely comment on my photography blog! Very sweet of you!

I love butterflies. I just may put a bunch of butterflies in a fun pattern going up the wall at my work! I saw this idea online somewhere! I'll post a pic when it's all done! :)

:: Lavender's Green :: said...

This made me so sad. When I was younger I used to visit the museum in Perth where I grew up. They have the most amazing butterfy collection there - hundreds of different types in hundreds of incredible sizes and colours.

While I loved to marvel at their beauty, it always made me feel sad. Butterfly's have such a short life span as it is, I hated that someone or something shortened their life for them :(

I sound so morbid, sorry :( Thanks for the inspiring post. Buttefly farms aren't something you hear about every day and aren't on the top of everyone's 'to donate to' list :)

x Jasmine

Anna Katrina said...

aww the poor butterflies they are so beautiful

Anna Katrina
http://passportglamour.blogspot.com/

ALFIE said...

i LOVE those butterflies printed over dictionary pages!!! a much better way to enjoy the insects beauty, indeed!

Emilie said...

Beautiful post!

Madiha said...

cuteee pics!!
Amazing :)

hope ur good darling...

Madichic
www.madichic.blogspot.com
x

Unknown said...

What an informative post, (regardless of my aversion of them) that’s terrible what the hunters do to the beautiful butterflies. No need to worry about me purchasing real ones in cases, I would MUCH prefer the fake butterflies!! :) I like the alternative options you gave, especially the Butterfly and Roses Print, beautiful.

daisychain said...

what an utterly enthralling post

Irene Blushing Loves said...

Thanks for this post!!I dont own any of that cases or bottles and now I never will!!!
Hugs!

That Girl in Pearls said...

Yikes! I have a couple of these myself. These little creatures are so beautiful. I had no idea thus was how! How sad!

Thanks for the info! Have a Lovely week : )
PS so cool that you held a sloth! We saw a wild one outside our balcony in Venezuela. We took like 50 pics and then got bored. Slow does not even come close to describing them!
B.

Leah said...

So sad! I love these other options though!

Leenda said...

I did not know that! Jeez..what people would do to make some money. Very informative post. Thanks for sharing.

Kathryn said...

This is so interesting and informative. I think the 'Vintage Dictionary Art Print' is my favourite and, judging by this, much nicer than the real thing!

Great post once again, Rachael!
:)

Kate x

Unknown said...

Butterflies! Thank you for sharing those butterfly prints....I just love them!!

Unknown said...

That is so sad! I had no idea they killed so many of them at once. I hope people take the time to read what you wrote and refuse to buy the butterflies in cases. Your alternatives are so perfect! I'm going to try out that shadow box one. Yay!

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Anonymous said...

Oh wow!! Very interesting!
I was going to say "I love the ones in the glass bottle" because I thought they were fake/plastic.
That's just sad, and mean.
Butterflies are beautiful. They shouldn't do that. It's totally wrong!

I didn't come on blogger for about 3 days, and I missed reading your blog.
LOVE!

Gorgeous Glam said...

Hi doll,
That's really sad. I figured there had to be something behind these boxes. I'd rather see them in a picture than in a box anyway! Thanks for sharing! xoxo

Blair McLeod said...

lovely post!!

Liesl said...

So, so pretty, Rachael, and what lovely ideas!

Liesl :)

Jesa said...

OH
MY
GOD


That seriously just made me so mad!!!!!! I'll be passing this info along!!

Your lovely for having courage to post this!
Adore you!

Cheers, Jesa

Tiffany said...

I had absolutely no idea this was going on :( Thanks for the informative post and your humane alternatives to incorporating lovely butterflies into one's home.

sheer whimsy said...

oh. my. goodness. thank you so much for letting us know. i had no idea and i will never buy butterflies in glass cases! loved how you posted nonharmful alternatives!

char said...

those poor butterflies!! that's so sad... i'll make sure i only ever buy paper butterflies :) i LOVE your blog, by the way, audrey hepburn is one of my most adored-personages of all time! x

Josie said...

This is absolutely terrible! Why not just buy a print? So sad. I do like your other ways to incorporate butterflies into decor, though.
xxoo Josie
http://winksmilestyle.blogspot.com

Jason said...

Thanks for spreading the word.
That is important.

Jason said...

Thanks for spreading the word.
That is important.

Chiaki in here said...

I prefer see the butterflies alive in the farm ..when U around the butterfly , U will feel u r in heaven rather than saw them in the bottle with dead condition

Alexandra said...

Poor little butterflies :-(

<33 Alex

Terry @ La Bella Vie said...

I think this is one of the most important blog posts' I have ever read. I have always wondered where they get these lovely little beauties and it just makes me sick to my stomach.
As with all natural/man made disasters and our environment today (Gulf oil mess still spewing) one has to wonder if any of our beauty (butterflies) will still be around for our children and grandchildren to see or will they only read about it in books...

Anonymous said...

omg that's really sad. I agree with you this is really cruel.

butterflies are so beautiful and they deserve to be free to fly.

:/

http://vivalabreee.blogspot.com/

Rhiannon Bosse said...

That's so sad :( oh my gosh I didn't know so thank you for spreading the word. The pillow is way cuter anyways! xo

thingsIlove said...

:( this is so sad.

Chloe said...

That's such a sad story! And I have to say, the substitutes for the butterflies are just as beautiful. I especially like the butterflies in the white frames, they're so lovely!

Chloe X

Find Maeberry Vintage Clothing Store online at maeberryvintage.etsy.com or at our Salt Lake City, Utah location 207 East Broadway (300 South) in the lower level of Now & Again.