Butterfly pupae business. Business plan for a live tropical butterfly park. Reviews and comments

South African and Australian butterflies are represented in a wide variety in wildlife. The world of amazing Lepidoptera beauties will conquer the heart of any spectator at the holiday in an instant. Keeping and breeding butterflies at home is a rather troublesome and financially costly business. If the owner of insects is seriously passionate about entomology, and his life's work brings moral satisfaction, then it is worth starting to breed beautiful insects in order to start a business. In this case, the occupation becomes a "gold mine" for the owner of butterflies.

Types of butterfly breeding business and the necessary tools

The presentation of moths as a business was founded in Russia about 14 years ago. Butterflies were in demand by customers during celebrations, so various agencies specializing in celebrations began to provide moths to “decorate” the holiday through the performance of acrobatic numbers by specially trained butterflies. Teaching a flock of winged insects to do tricks while flying was a matter that required certain knowledge and skills, and therefore laborious, since it was necessary to keep the attention of the audience for a certain period of time.

The next direction for the sale of butterflies as a business product was the establishment of parks with conditions close to tropical. In the parks, visitors can walk among a variety of live butterflies, and then purchase a beauty for their home collection by creating the necessary conditions for a comfortable stay.

The third direction is the sale of panels of dried moths.

At first glance, it seems that all types of moth exploitation are unprofitable, since they require large financial costs. This assumption has no good reason, because all financial calculations are determined by a specific business plan that contains several components.

In order to develop a business at home for breeding butterflies IP, the following objects will be useful:

a room consisting of 1-3 rooms with a ceiling height of at least 3 meters;
insectarium with a "smart" system for maintaining a constant temperature and humidity level inside the structure;
tropical plants that serve as a food source for pupae and a habitat for butterflies;
pupae of South African, South American and New Zealand butterflies.

The main types of expenses for opening a mini-business

It became possible to significantly reduce the expense item for the purchase of an insectarium thanks to the drawings that appeared on the Internet for constructing it with your own hands. The climate control system should be purchased from trusted suppliers, manufacturers in Germany, France, Austria, Belgium.

The purchase of tropical plants in the amount of 1-3 pieces will not affect the financial well-being of the entrepreneur, but the purchase of rare butterfly pupae tropical species become a significant expense. 1 broad-winged butterfly lives from 1 to 15 days, the cost reaches 35 US dollars per 1 piece, pupae are sold exclusively in batches of 100 pieces. Accordingly, an individual entrepreneur will have to spend $3,500 once every 2 weeks, or $700 per month, and this amount of costs is not available to every novice entrepreneur. It is necessary to take into account the fact of the presence of 1/3 of defective pupae, weak in physical health, which never turn into caterpillars, despite all the exhortations of sellers about the quality and viability of the goods offered.

Starting a business comes with its own expense items, such as:

purchase of special equipment for indoor installation (insectarium, climate control systems, tropical plants), which will amount to about 20 thousand rubles in the total cost;
purchase of the first 3 batches of butterflies, which will amount to 105 thousand rubles of the total cost.

South African butterflies are unpretentious in care: the owner needs to cut fresh fruit and expose diluted honey and water for butterflies in a bowl daily. For better growth and development of moths, powder immunity stimulator for small pets, which is purchased at a veterinary pharmacy, should be added to a solution of water and honey. If the owner of the insects is faced with the fact that there is no immunomodulator in powder form, you should buy an analogue of the drug in tablet form and grind it into powder using paper and a dough rolling device, putting the tablets inside a double-folded sheet of paper and walking over it several times with a rolling pin.

Business plan in case the park opens

If an entrepreneur decides to open an open-air butterfly park, when calculating the business plan estimate, one should be guided by the size of the area required to create a park territory. As a rule, for 1 park with moths you need to purchase:

1-4 insectariums, or make by hand;
12 batches of pupae (4 insectariums × 3 batches of pupae suitable for habitation within the boundaries of 1 construct);
12 tropical plants (4 designs x 3 plant species suitable for 1 fixture);
4 climate control systems.

Thus, the IP will have to get out of his pocket $ 420 every 2 weeks to purchase broad-winged moths. The remaining types of expenses are made by the owner of the moths one-time.

In order to ensure maximum effective work of the above systems, it is necessary to insulate the insectariums with a dense transparent polyethylene film ( a budget option), covering all parts of the structure with it and creating a canopy over the insectarium in such a way that the insects are inside the protective frame and are available to the eyes of visitors. This type of thermal insulation structure has 1 significant drawback: it is applicable only in spring and autumn, when the air temperature is within 0 - plus 18 degrees Celsius. The best option saving the life expectancy of butterflies will be a greenhouse built by professional craftsmen, or created by oneself.

The entrepreneur needs to include in the monthly expense item (negative balance) the remuneration of 3 employees:

accountant-cashier;
security guard
administrator;
rent for the territory allocated for the park;
2-time purchase of 12 batches of butterflies per month.

At the same time, it is worth considering the fact of the intensive work of the IP itself in its park, since becoming a full-fledged entrepreneur with a large staff of up to 20 people will lead to a complete leveling of business profitability due to the unprofitability of wages for many employees. If the park operates according to the “economy” option, the cost of remuneration of employees will amount to about 100 thousand rubles per month. If we proceed from the calculation of the profit of an individual entrepreneur for 3 types of activities at once (the sale of dried panels, the functioning of the park and the provision of a flock of moths for celebrations), then the profitability of the business will become quite high to form the stabilization fund of the enterprise and cover daily expenses.

Calculation of "net" profit per month from the sale of butterflies

For example, the cost of 1 entrance ticket to a home with live butterflies or a park is 600 rubles. When 15 people visit the park a day, the revenue is 9,000 rubles a day and 252,000 rubles a month. The sale of 1 butterfly is made at a price increasing from 800 to 1100 rubles. The sale of a wholesale batch of 4-6 pieces is carried out at a price of 600 to 900 rubles. A batch of dolls purchased for $35 will bring in $70 in revenue.

Selling panels of dried moths is the least risky business in this type of home-based business. The cost of the panel is about 1.5 thousand rubles. Selling 1 product every day for 20 working days, you can get revenue in the range of 30 thousand rubles. Having summed up all types of income, the conclusion became obvious that the entrepreneur received 700 thousand rubles a month of profit without deducting the total amount of expenses.

The negative balance as part of the costs is several thousand rubles, since 100 thousand is deducted for the salaries of employees, 840 dollars for the purchase of 12 batches of dolls twice a month and 60 thousand for paying the rent of the land. It remains for the entrepreneur to use 2 hundred thousand rubles of “net” profit.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it remains to be advised that it is possible to save money on the purchase item of expenditure for a large number of batches of dolls by purchasing a smaller number of batches: not 12 batches, but 10 or even 8. Aspiring entrepreneurs who want to start selling "live" goods should draw up a business plan, based on the number of purchased batches of pupae. If the goods cannot be resold, the individual entrepreneur bears the full loss of the invested funds. For this reason, you should start own business thoroughly, rationally weighing all the disadvantages and advantages.

The best activity in terms of financial cost is the breeding of live butterflies at home.

A. Goncharuk, [email protected]

Facebook Twitter Google+ LinkedIn

If you compile a global ranking of the most beautiful insects, then, undoubtedly, butterflies will secure the first place. It is unlikely that anyone is able to resist the natural beauty of these incredible creatures. According to scientists, the first butterflies inhabited our planet in the time of dinosaurs - in Jurassic. Today, these insects can be found on all continents, with the possible exception of Antarctica. Today we know over 200 thousand species of butterflies. Among them there are dwarfs a few millimeters long, and real giants with a wingspan of up to 30 centimeters.

It is also curious that these bright and beautiful creatures have long ceased to be only an object of study for entomologists. Today, various offices that organize holidays and other significant events are happy to use butterflies as a living decoration for special occasions. And butterfly breeding is turning from a rare hobby into a promising and highly profitable business.

Who buys butterflies?

As mentioned above, the main consumers of these insects are a variety of holiday agencies. And their clients, in turn, are quite wealthy citizens of our country. After all, the cost of one butterfly sometimes reaches 1500-2000 rubles. And, of course, almost no one orders these beautiful insects in a single copy. If earlier (and even now) a couple was released during a wedding celebration, today live tropical butterflies are gradually taking their place. The so-called salute of live butterflies. It is prepared in the following way.

Slightly chilled and devoid of the desire to fly, butterflies are placed in a beautiful festive box, decorated with gift paper and ribbons. The number of insects depends on the desires and capabilities of the client.

The more butterflies in the box, the cheaper each one is. For example, a mini salute of three tropical butterflies will cost the customer, on average, 3,000 rubles. And a huge "charge" of 50 insects will cost "only" 35,000 rubles. Of course, a lot depends on the type of butterflies. Some especially valuable breeds are valued at 3,000-4,000 rubles a piece.

The box is closed and taken to solemn event. The temperature inside rises at the right moment. The box opens, and bright multi-colored butterflies fly out of it in a beautiful stream. This spectacle, it must be said, is very unusual and bewitching. Everyone remains impressed - both the heroes of the occasion and their numerous guests.

They also practice another option for decorating the holiday with tropical butterflies. They are put in special envelopes, one in each. These envelopes are distributed to guests. At the right moment, on a signal, everyone opens their envelopes, and dozens of the most beautiful butterflies fly out. Such a launch also gives rise to great excitement among the guests. Everyone is trying to follow the flight path of their own butterfly. And after the end of the event, guests often try to catch their butterfly and take it to their home, where it will please the eye for several more weeks.

Butterflies are used not only for fireworks, but also as individual unusual gifts. Just imagine how your soulmate or your friends give you a box in which a butterfly of unearthly beauty sits. Those who have already received such gifts say that the impression remains very strong. It is simply impossible to forget such a beautiful and non-standard gift.

Butterflies are actively used in large cities of our country. But even there, finding such an unusual service as a butterfly salute is not so easy. As for the provincial cities, here this species"decorations" of holidays and solemn events are completely absent. This, in turn, opens up broad prospects for start-up entrepreneurs who are ready to link their future activities with. Few people know that to grow these beautiful creatures, you do not need to create a full-fledged laboratory. Everything can be done right at home.

Breeding butterflies at home

The easiest way is to find a few fat caterpillars somewhere in nature, bring them home, plant them in a three-liter jar. Next, you need to wait until the caterpillar weaves a cocoon and turns into a chrysalis. From the chrysalis, after some time (from several days to several weeks) a butterfly will hatch. That, in fact, is all. The only negative is that in this way you can only get local species of butterflies, which are unlikely to differ in fantastic colors. This means that you are unlikely to be able to profitably sell them to holiday agencies. This is the path of the common insect lover. We are interested in the path of the entrepreneur.

And for business, as well as possible, tropical breeds of butterflies are suitable. They are just fantastic appearance and quite large. You won't be able to find them in the nearby forest. Unless, of course, you are a resident of Brazil or New Zealand. There are three options left. The first is to purchase caterpillars from entrepreneurs who practice butterfly breeding. The second is to go to the tropics on your own and collect caterpillars there. After that, it remains only to bring the priceless cargo to your apartment. The third option for starting a business is optimal. You need to find and order a batch of pupae of the breed of butterflies you need via the Internet. Now it is not at all difficult to find companies selling dolls. The cost of pupae of tropical breeds is from 50 to 300 rubles apiece. Delivery is carried out by mail or courier.

For successful cultivation and further breeding of these insects, it is necessary to create conditions in your apartment that are as close as possible to those places where certain types of butterflies live. At home, caterpillars, cocoons and butterflies are kept in insectaria (insect aquariums). Different types of butterflies require "living space" of different sizes. You can read about this in numerous literature. It is interesting that even caterpillars of many breeds require rather large containers for their cultivation. In small "aviaries" they can die. Because we are talking about tropical species, you must understand that the insectarium must be maintained at a high temperature and high humidity. Just like in a tropical forest. This can be achieved with the help of heaters and humidifiers, which are not difficult to find in any pet store.

Much more difficult to solve the problem of feeding. If you breed tropical butterflies, then the caterpillars will have to be fed with tropical plants. Some "butterfly farmers" are trying to replace them with other plants or even artificial mixtures. But not with all species, such a trick is successful. There is only one option left - to grow the necessary plants in a greenhouse. And some butterfly breeders do just that. Keep in mind that you will need quite a lot of food. After all, it is known that caterpillars have a very good appetite. As for butterflies, it is somewhat easier to cope with their diet. They are fed with natural honey, sugar and sweet fruits.

In the container for growing butterflies, small dry branches must be placed. They are necessary so that the butterfly, after its birth, can hang upside down and spread its wings. In this position, she dries her wings for several hours. If this does not happen, then she will never be able to fly. And it is unlikely that you will be able to sell such insects to your customers.

What to do with unsold butterflies?

Even if you did not manage to sell all your butterflies in time, do not be upset. After all, even dried butterflies can be profitably sold to true connoisseurs of beauty and art. You just need to arrange them in a beautiful wooden frame, and an unusual three-dimensional picture is ready. It is curious that the cost of such a composition consists of the prices for the butterfly itself and the frame. A small painting with one butterfly costs an average of 2,000 rubles. Given this state of affairs, butterfly breeding can be called a very profitable and practically waste-free business.

Hardly anyone is able to resist the incredible beauty of butterflies. Graceful forms and unsurpassed colors of iridescent wings are simply amazing. Today, these insects can be found in all countries of the world. Today, more than 200 thousand species of butterflies are known to science. Among them there are crumbs only a few millimeters long, and giants with a wingspan of up to 30 centimeters.

It is impossible not to take into account the fact that these beautiful creatures have long been not only an object of study, but it is a promising and highly profitable business. Now the cultivation of winged flowers is a beauty that brings profit.

Who buys butterflies?

The main consumers of these wonderful insects are various holiday agencies.

The pigeons, which were previously released from hands during the wedding celebration, were replaced by the so-called "salute of live tropical butterflies." The cost of one such butterfly fluctuates around 1500-2000 rubles, but no one will order one butterfly, otherwise what kind of fireworks will it be?

When ordering, moths are chilled a bit (so they don't feel like flying) and placed in a beautiful and colorful holiday box, decorated with ribbons and holiday paper. After the box with the "surprise" is delivered to the gala event, it is heated at the right time and the butterflies are set free, which can't wait to fly. Such a bewitching spectacle will not leave anyone indifferent, and guests will certainly like it.

Butterflies are actively used by holiday agencies in big cities where this business flourishes, but not every agency can boast of such an unusual and colorful service. As for the provincial, small towns, in most cases there is no gift from butterflies.

Also, only a few people know that to grow butterflies at home, it is not at all necessary to create an entire laboratory with various flasks and glass boxes. To do this, just read the following recommendations, and you can breed these beautiful creatures right at home, as well as build a good business on this.

Back to index

Breeding moths at home

The first thing that will most likely come to your mind is to find the largest and fattest caterpillar in the area, put it in a three-liter jar and wait what comes of it. But the downside is that from this breeding you will get only a type of butterfly that will not please you with a special and bright color, because this is the way of breeding butterflies as a hobby, and we need a good and profitable business.

Therefore, you are more likely to be interested in tropical species of butterflies. They have just a wonderful appearance and are quite large in size. It is clear that it will not work to find them in the nearest forest, and therefore you can purchase them either from entrepreneurs who practice butterfly breeding, or you can order them on the Internet. Prices for pupae of tropical species are about 50-300 rubles apiece. Delivery is carried out by courier (directly to the house) or by mail.

Back to index

Required conditions

Your task is to provide insects with conditions that are as close as possible to the places where they live. Therefore, be patient, gather your will into a fist, and you can start breeding, and then good business with a stable income.

At home, caterpillars, cocoons and moths are kept in special aquariums - insectariums. It is worth considering that different types of butterflies require different sizes of this aquarium. It is even interesting that large species of butterflies can die if the "living space" is too small for them, this is also worth paying attention to. Insectariums should be maintained at a high temperature and high humidity, as if in a tropical forest. To do this, you can use heaters and humidifiers, which are easy to find in any pet store.

A little more difficult to solve the feeding problem. You will need to fork out for a greenhouse, because you need to feed the insects with special tropical plants, and you will have to grow them yourself. Keep in mind that the so-called feed will need a lot, because the caterpillars are real gluttons. And with the feeding of butterflies, things are easier, they are fed with natural honey, sweet fruits and sugar.

We received a question from Tatyana: “How can you grow a butterfly at home? How long does she live in captivity?

Cats, dogs, parrots, reptiles, fish, even spiders and cockroaches... All these pets at home are no longer a rarity. But you want something new, unusual and beautiful! And butterflies will give you just such feelings. Because today you can admire them not only in nature, but also at home.

How to grow a butterfly at home

In fact, caring for a butterfly is not difficult. The main thing that is required from the owner of future beauty is patience. As you know, butterflies go through several stages in their development:

eggs;
caterpillars;
pupae;
butterflies.

There are several ways to start breeding butterflies.

Before looking for eggs, study the information about the selected species of butterflies to understand where these insects lay their eggs.
Carefully place the found eggs in a small transparent plastic container (in a large one there is a risk that the eggs will dry out). It is better to shift the eggs not with your hands, but with improvised material: a stick, a leaf.
There is another way to get butterfly eggs: catch an adult, place it in an aquarium or similar container. Put there the leaves of the plant that this particular type of butterfly feeds on. Subsequently, she will lay eggs on one of the leaves.

When you got the eggs, wait for the little caterpillars to come out of them. If you kept them in a plastic container, immediately move them to the aquarium, putting leaves of a food plant there (the ones on which you found eggs or caterpillars).
If you immediately decide to take the caterpillars, just bring them home and follow the above scheme.
Lay napkins or soft paper under the leaves and spray it with water from time to time to maintain the required level of moisture. For butterflies, the optimum humidity is 60-90%.
Also, caterpillars should be carefully protected from direct sunlight.
The dwelling of future butterflies should be large enough to have room for growth and development.
Remember to constantly add new food that the caterpillars feed on.
Be sure to remove caterpillar droppings, as they can serve as a source of infection and cause decay.
Place several upright sticks or branches with leaves in the aquarium. When the caterpillars pupate, they will need something to hang on to.

You should know that the pupae of moths turn into a mature individual in the ground: for them it will be necessary to cover the bottom with a layer of soil.

Before the process of pupation itself, the behavior of the caterpillars changes: they stop eating and begin to behave restlessly.
When the caterpillar hangs on the branch, you will notice how it begins to spin a cocoon around itself. When she is completely in the cocoon, you can start the countdown. Soon you will have real live butterflies!
After getting out of the chrysalis, the butterfly hangs on a branch for some time to spread its wings. If there are no branches nearby, and the butterfly does not spread its wings on them, it will not be able to fly.
Feeding an adult butterfly is very simple: they eat honey or sugar (mixed with a little water), fresh fruit, and even fruit with rot.

Breeding in captivity

A couple of days after the "birth" of butterflies, you can mate. But for mating, you will need several generations of butterflies, because males hatch a little earlier than females (by a few days). Remember that on the fourth day of life, butterflies will no longer be able to breed.

For the mating itself, you will need a room, from three meters in height, for the free movement of butterflies, an insectarium. In the room you need to create high temperature- 28-30 degrees Celsius. Take care of sufficient humidity.

Marine aquariums, reptiles and even predatory animals have already become commonplace in the homes of urban residents, but live butterflies have always been and remain exotic! Butterflies are the most beautiful creatures that excite the imagination of people with their lightness and beauty. Graceful various forms and the incredible colors of iridescent wings are amazing.

The easiest way is to find caterpillars. Just look for large and beautiful caterpillars, because small moths will suddenly turn out 🙂 I will give just some photos of caterpillars from which butterflies will appear, which are widespread in our area.

caterpillar and butterfly

For a more detailed definition of which butterfly will appear from the caterpillar, you can download for free.

Caterpillars must be treated with extreme caution, as they are easily injured (). Therefore, in order to transfer the caterpillar to the jig, tear off the leaf on which it sits or use a cotton swab for transplantation.

To observe the transformation from a caterpillar into a butterfly, it is enough to get a transparent container, any food container or a three-liter bottle is suitable for this, but if you still want to photograph the transformation process or professionally breed butterflies, then it is better to make an aquarium that will be used as insectarium.

You can put a few napkins at the bottom of the container and put enough fodder leaves from the top so that the caterpillars can eat plenty.

For different caterpillars, of course, the food is different, so it is advisable to use the vegetation on which you found the caterpillar.

It is very important to constantly change the vegetation, preventing it from drying out and rotting. And so that the vegetation does not dry out so quickly, you can periodically moisten the wipes from the sprayer.

So that the caterpillars do not run away, we close the jar with a lid with holes or gauze, securing it with an elastic band.

Having reached the maximum size, the caterpillars prepare for pupation. They stop feeding, usually excrete liquid excrement - shed excess water, sometimes change color.

The pupation process is very interesting. In general, it is about the same - the caterpillar secretes something like a sticky web and spins a cocoon. Cocoons are very diverse: sometimes soft and transparent, like cotton wool, and sometimes very strong, hard and opaque. The shape and structure of the cocoon directly depends on the type of butterfly. And some caterpillars even pupate in the ground, such as night butterflies.

Usually the caterpillar does not pupate for a long time - 2-3 days. Now you need to know what to do with the doll next. Some species will hatch within a week, and some need to be kept cold for a month or more - hibernating pupae. Therefore, do not forget to periodically moisten the container.

When a butterfly emerges from the chrysalis, it needs to hang (upside down) to spread its wings. To do this, they put knotty branches vertically next to the pupae or hang strips of toilet paper so that the butterfly can climb on them. If the butterfly does not hang down with its wings, then they will not straighten out and it will not be able to fly. The drying process takes several hours, after which the butterfly is able to fly.

At home, butterflies willingly feast on honey or sugar, slightly diluted with water. Overripe fruits also will not go unnoticed.

Butterflies grown at home are more tame than their wild counterparts. They can easily sit on their hands, they will not be afraid of your approach. The main thing is not to accidentally crush them.

In addition to the usual butterflies that can be found in our regions, you can, which differ from ours in brighter colors and larger sizes.

To do this, you will need to start your journey by acquiring pupae. Now you can buy pupae of tropical butterflies via the Internet. It is enough to type "" in the search engine and you will be presented with several online stores that will send you dolls by mail.

For example:
Pupae of large tropical butterflies with a wingspan of 12-15 cm. - $ 3 - 10

Pupae of small tropical butterflies with a wingspan of 8-12 cm. - $ 2

The ideal option is to breed butterflies in a greenhouse or conservatory, but you can also use an insectarium, while ensuring a stable temperature and humidity using a controller (found in a reptile pet store).

If you want to fit into the design of your apartment,

We hang the pupae in the insectarium and wait a couple of weeks for a miracle to appear.

In addition, the current fashion dictates its own rules, and now butterflies are a beauty that makes a profit.