Butterfly feeding (how to) - Apache Fritillary

[leobluesy]

Fascinating....!

[jcmegabyte]

I thought this might be interesting to show, and useful for people who find tired or injured butterflies and want to feed them until they recover... Thanks for checking it out :-)

[Fernito69]

Nice video! I'm a moth breeder, but have no experience with butterflies. How do you do for the butterflies to not fly away? I mean, when I find one in the wild I can't get closer than 3 ft. and they will quickly fly away.

[jcmegabyte]

Butterlies are somewhat cold-blooded, and like to warm-up before they fly. They are fairly docile when they're cold, and also when they're feeding - so long as you move slowly around them. Once this butterfly has finished feeding and warms-up under the light, it will no doubt want to go flying around soon afterwards! :-)

[Fernito69]

@jcmegabyte Thanks for your reply, I really appreciate it! :)

[Roserietta]

Well.... I had to euthanize Curly. He was suffering. He kept flapping, and he couldn't fly. It broke my heart to see him topple over and be unable to get up. Thanks anyway for trying. 

[jcmegabyte]

Sorry to hear that... Unfortunately, mother nature is one tough mamma as we know all too well, and in nature very few of the hundreds of eggs survive to be a healthy adults, for one reason or another. Hopefully you'll get some healthy ones next time around! :-)

[AltAirPilot517]

How do you know what the ratio of sugar to water is? (I'm trying to make honey solution but I don't want it to be too concentrated).

[jcmegabyte]

Too concentrated will kill them, so if in doubt, mix it really weak (especially if you are using honey) and they will just drink more and epell the excess water. I would only use 5% honey. Plain white granulated suger is a safer bet.

[lionheartrocks78]

i put my food on a leaf

[jcmegabyte]

That sounds like a good idea too! :-)

[Pebbleprominent]

I feed my Red admiral (Vanessa atlanta) like this as well. She will hibernate over hte winter in my shed and then next spring I might find a mate for her so I can get eggs from her.

[jcmegabyte]

This technique should work for just about any butterfly. I have not been able to mate any Nymphlidae species in captivity (haven't tried much) but do let me know if you are successful and manage to get some eggs, too! :-)

[Blooberry95]

I remember when I was 8. I found liek 3 caterpillars stranded near my sidewalk so i took care of them. About a month later they turned into butterflies :D I took them out to warm up in the afternoon :)

[jcmegabyte]

Sounds like a cool project and I bet the butterflies appreciated your efforts, too! :-)

[shinocicada]

So pretty. But why doesn't she try to fly away?

[jcmegabyte]

Butterflies need to be warm to fly properly, otherwise they just fall to the ground and flop around. This butterfly was still not warmed up enough yet (it was still early morning), so she really enjoyed basking under that bright light, and sitting on a nice food source was even better! After she warmed up enough, she was full of breakfast and ready to get going for the day! :-)

[molly1481]

One word Wow !!!!!

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks for watching! :-)

[maranca12]

wao

amazing and beautiful!

[jcmegabyte]

Glad you enjoyed! :-)

[Mooky952]

she's so cute thanks for the video :)

[jcmegabyte]

She was more than happy to be the star performer in this video - and got a free lunch too! Thanks for stopping by :-)

[popekitty]

I just had a Monarch hatch and I have about 4 more that I rescued from a garden shrub that was cut down- The weather in San Diego has been in the 60's daytime and 40's nighttime. Is it too cold to release them? THANKS!

[jcmegabyte]

It should be ok - if it's too cold for them here, they will migrate down to mexico where most of them go. Since you found them locally, they were already used to the climate and just like if they had emerged outside, they will just continue doing what they normally do, whether they stay around or fly south.

Do wait until it's warm outside before you let them go, and set them on a tree or bush in the bright sunshine - they can't fly well until they've warmed up good. :-)

[InTheStrand]

That's Beautiful

[jcmegabyte]

Glad you liked - thanks for watching :-)

[edwinrencirdess]

thank you.seeing this has helped me to animate a butterfly puppet and make it more lifelike.

[jcmegabyte]

No problem - glad you found it useful. Thanks for watching :D

[marcus78354]

what did u feed it again?

[jcmegabyte]

The "Food" is just 10% granulated sugar in water. 10% honey can also be used, but don't use stronger than 10% or it can kill them.

[laqefue1977]

buen video

[jcmegabyte]

Glad you enjoyed - thanks so much for watching :D

[jhunli]

that butterfly is so cute!!!

like it!!

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks for watching :-)

[johnrules1]

where could i find larva? in arlington lol

[jcmegabyte]

That's a good question - to this day I have never found a Fritillary larva in the field - and I've looked plenty!

[LillyRuler]

how do u make the sound

[jcmegabyte]

You mean the music? I'm a musician! :D Visit my website for lotsa free stuff. :-)

[LillyRuler]

ok i will

[albastar21]

in my country i was randomly wallking arond when my cousin tells me a butterfly was on my neck i carefully took it at my hand it would move it just stayed there it seem to like me.. it fell asleep..on my hand i didnt know what to feed it but now i do.. lol thanx

[jcmegabyte]

Butterflies sometimes land on people because skin has salts and other minerals on it from sweat. Butterflies need certain minerals to be healthy. That might be why. :-)

[MaxiCosi07]

aaah what a beautiful animal!

[jcmegabyte]

Yea, she's a beauty all right! Thanks for the view and comment :D

[armiger044]

wow thats amazingm every creature i see (including human) runs off in pure fear, doesnt help when i have a hammer in one hand and a net in the other wearing camo gear in the city mwahahahahaha im a tree in the middle of da road lol

[jcmegabyte]

Hahaha - I'm sure that's how they feel when they see ME coming too! XD

[MoonFlowerGoddess]

Amazing.

[jcmegabyte]

She was a pretty friendly bug, AND hungry! Hahahaha XD Thanks for stopping by :D

[MoonFlowerGoddess]

You are very welcome, I would've loved having her myself lol :D

[ahmadlcastro]

lovely :),,i love it

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks for watching :-)

[brodis2]

this vido is very amazing

[jcmegabyte]

She was a cool bug. Literally - at room temperature, most butterflies don't want to fly so they're somewhat docile and can be "handled" to some degree if you're careful. Ooops.. the secret is out! :D

[djmastervolume]

Cool!

[jcmegabyte]

I thought so - she was pretty cooperative about eating right there on my desk! :D

[guidosguitarlounge]

thats nice to see.

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks for seeing.. er um watching! :D

[ChantHappy]

very nice :)))

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks! :D

[finazen]

you are an expert aren't you?

[jcmegabyte]

This is really just a hobby for me - I have no formal training or degrees. However, I've spent a LOT of time (30+ years) studying and working with Leps. I figure my experience and knowledge is somewhere between amateur and professional but exactly where, who knows! Hahaha XD

Mostly, I enjoy documenting what I see and for everyone else to enjoy.

Thanks for the view! :-)

[jcmegabyte]

The food solution is only 10% sugar - the rest (90%) is water. Honey is a better food than sugar but should only be about 5% (the other 95% being water). If you mix it too strong it will kill them. When in doubt make it more dilute - they will just drink more as needed.

The food/water mixture probably won't attract butterflies or moths, but over-ripe fruit (bananas, apples, oranges, etc.) sometimes will. Try it! :D

[SamPhan96]

Is it 10% of water and Sugar? And there the only objects? Theres 100% so should there be 50 - 50? Also i live in england, there are alot of butterflies here, but will it atract em?

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks for watchin' :D

[methodistgirl]

I never knew that you could keep a butterfly

as a pet. I see how you would feed one.  What

else can you do to take care of a butterfly?

How would you raise one?

[jcmegabyte]

People raise butterflies mostly to observe and study, but few keep them as pets since they don't live very long.

Aside from providing food and warmth, they don't need much - they just want to fly around, eat, and mate. Hmmm... kind of like people!

The entire life cycle is difficult to complete in captivity, so collecting and rearing the caterpillars is easiest. My videos show much of what you can expect to see. If you want to try it, feel free to write :D

[Rob1994p]

what you can do also is a honey mix

50% honey 50% water

[jcmegabyte]

I frequently use honey instead of sugar - it's a much better food, but anything over a10% concentration will kill many species in fairly short order. Keeping a good supply of plain water available beside the food mixture might help prevent that, but I found it easier to just dilute it a lot. They'll just drink more if they need to, and expell any excess water. My longevity record is about 35 days for one Purple Hairstreak female during a recent rearing project. :D

[dholt777]

Very cool buzz enhancer. Thanks man

[control177]

damn it let u touch its wings and it didn't fly off thats awsome. lol trained it well :P

[jcmegabyte]

This one was pretty friendly for some reason. Thanks for watching.commenting :D

[nutier]

Good video , I love to see somethings appearing on earth . thank you for sharing .

nutier

[winterelaxation]

beautiful butterfly!...you are awesome!

[jcmegabyte]

Yea, she's a beauty alright... and such a show-off too! Hahaha XD Thanks for watching! :D

[xyzk54]

Professional!!!! biutifull ma corto!!!!

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks! It was fun to make, too :D

[tariloe]

what a superb prerecording

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks :-)

[TheSmilingCat]

This is amazing! Love this butterfly!

[jcmegabyte]

Too bad these aren't found in more places - you really have to go out of your way to find them (like many of the most interesting butterfly species). Thanks for watching!

[Tyranitar635]

i got a moth to drink maple syrup once...dont know if its good for it though.

[jcmegabyte]

Actually, maple syrup would probably be a good food - especially if it were thinned-down a bit with water. Sugars which are too concentrated can kill leps if they eat too much for too long. Many moth (and butterfly) species will feed on various tree saps, so it makes sense that many syrups would work for them. :D

[Kruizinby]

I love the fact she just sat there and let you give her a nudge!

[jcmegabyte]

Yup, she was a friendly one. Not many will sit so still at first like that. However, once they start feeding most become pretty docile as long as you don't make any fast, threatening movements. :-)

[Crypticrealism]

she's beautiful

how do you determine the sex..I could probably google this but I'll remain lethargic haha :P

[jcmegabyte]

Many butterfly/moth species are "dimorphic" - males and females are different colors. Apache males are bright orange, so THIS species is easy to distinguish. Some species have nearly identical sexes so genitalia is the only way to tell (even so, not so easy to tell).  Thanks for watching! :-)

[Crypticrealism]

ah, thank you! :)

[urbanninjazero]

getting* XD

[urbanninjazero]

that butterfly was get pissed

[cybercab]

Awesome!

[Videosjardim]

Cool!

[luxeden]

what is she eating?

[jcmegabyte]

The "food" is a 10% granulated sugar in 90% water solution. The recipe is in the video credits too, but probably no one watches them! :-)

[AnarchicxA]

You can use a slice of bannana also, right?

Thats what I tried when I caught a Monarch.

-Seemed to like that just fine :)

[jcmegabyte]

Many butterflies are attracted to and will feed on fruit - especially when it's over-ripe or partially fermented (maybe they like to get drunk?). I usually prefer to use a 10% honey in water solution, because it's most like their normal food - flower nectar. 10% sugar-water solution works too, although not as nutritious as as honey (same is true for hummingbird food).

[kclama]

Very interesting.

[Vatsek]

Are those butterflies "grown" in a lab, or they were caught in the wild?

[jcmegabyte]

This particular female came from the wild. I am trying to get her to oviposit so that I can raise some more of them and document the life cycle on my website. :)

[ruiamandrade]

I'd love to have female butterflies (or moths) successfully ovipositing in captivity, this would increase the number of species for which I could possibly watch the life cycle. At the moment I can only raise either larvae I capture in the wild or eggs which I see being oviposited.

[jcmegabyte]

Most moths are easy - many will just dump their eggs in a paper bag. Butterflies need specific conditions of light and temperature, in addition to host plant is a specific state of growth. Some species are nearly impossible while others aren't too hard. It's usually much easier if you can collect freshly laid ova. Happy bugging! :D

[ruiamandrade]

It's a shame that it's difficult to have butterflies lay eggs in captivity :-(.