Worldwide Butterflies has been supplying butterflies and moths for over half a century. There is a range of species available as livestock. Schools can see Recommended School Species.

Butterflies and moths are supplied for historic, scientific and identification collections, medical research, for photography and conservation, and even just for their incredible beauty and natural history interest.

Schools and educational establishments are prominent in Worldwide Butterflies’ list of customers. A number people started by buying from Worldwide Butterflies, and have gone on to become professional in Entomology and Natural History in a number of ways. In fact in fact this has now continued in subsequent generations. To read about Worldwide Butterflies from the earliest days please see History.

Send a GIFT CERTIFICATE

To make sure that the recipient gets the greatest benefit, let them choose from the whole WWB website the things they MOST want.

This is a wonderful way to mark an event, birthday, anniversary or show appreciation to friends or family, or to encourage a budding interest, even to start a new one.

Click here to select one of the pictures to accompany your Gift.

Welcome to the WWB Website

If you wish to edit your order, click on Shopping Cart where you can change the quantities or remove an item. It is essential to click the blue circular arrow ikon after making a change on an item, which updates the calculations.

Then proceed to Checkout.

If your order is not going through at checkout, you are then with PayPal, not on the WWB website, it sometimes helps to try an alternative valid card, otherwise, you can select to pay by PayPal instead of a card.

Login to My Account  to follow availability of booked items. You can see your order history, Store Credits and check on dispatch. Booked species may have an update note. If none please check the species text on the website to see the current availability.

Have you received the latest WWB NEWS? To receive WWB NEWS by email in future, please go to your Account and click NEWS Subscribe. It's free. You will be notified about current and coming species, special offers and more.

Some items on the website pages have multiple pictures which show when you click the main picure. If you hover the cursor over a picture, arrows appear left or right so you can scroll through the pictures enlarged.

LIVING BUTTERFLIES and MOTHS. For film shoots, weddings and other events we are sometimes asked for butterflies to release. Foreign species cannot be used for this and we don't supply living adults. You can buy pupae but not to a specific date, so you need to organise the synchronisation of emergence for the particular requirement.

TIME IN THE POST

Customers sometimes expect their orders to arrive next day. Please take into account the anticipated season shown for each item and the fact that several items may be sent from different sources, often from another country. Post to Europe usually takes one to two weeks and often more in holiday periods.

PACKETS ARE SENT BY MAIL AND ARRIVE WITH YOUR LETTERS.

THERE IS NO TRACKING.

BEFORE ENQUIRING ABOUT BOOKED ORDERS . . . . 

Please check availability on this website and, on YOUR ACCOUNT to see if there is a note against your booked item. If you do enquire, please quote not only the order NUMBER and your NAME but also the SPECIES.

Availability: NOW means can be dispatched immediately or within a few days. If a month or season is stated, and we are in that period, eg If it is June and a species is listed as June, the item is not available NOW: they are anticipated in June and will be sent as soon as available. When that species is actually ready to send, the availability will change to NOW and booked items are dispatched in date order.

COURIER DELIVERIES to EUROPE International orders for livestock that would take too long in the post, are delivered in Europe by express courier, usually arriving next day after dispatch. This almost eliminates the risk in transit and is the only shipping option for most non-dormant livestock. Some species are recommended to be shipped by courier: in such cases, if XXP is not selected the packet will be posted, but the risk is considerably increased.

Outside Europe and USA only dormant pupae and eggs can be posted. Courier delivery outside Europe is only by individual arrangement and is not generally available.

Historic specimens and Aberrations are now on the WWB website Click here to see set specimens of Coppers

The cost of postage and packing was not only reduced last season but is not increased with the new, higher postal rates.  New packaging is being used, that reduces weight and size, so the charge for posting livestock in the UK and overseas was reduced by about 25% and continues to be held down this year.  

CURRENT RECOMMENDATIONS

BREEDING STOCK OF 5 PUPAE OR 10?  Some species offer these two alternatives. If the species is easy, or you are experienced, it may be possible to obtain a pairing from 5 pupae, as long as they hatch together in a short time. Clearly the chances are greatly improved if you have a breeding stock of TEN pupae.

The WWB website offers classic species such as Swallowtails, Atlas Moth, Deathshead atropos and Oleander Hawkmoths nerii, Spanish Moon Moth isabellae and many more. They are popular, so the earlier you book, the higher on the list your order will be.  

BLACK-VEINED WHITE Aporia crataegi larvae. Very hard to obtain. There are some immediately available for a few days, or until sold.

MARSH FRITILLARY ssp beckeri larvae will be available in May/June. This is a very larg and brilliantly coloured subspecies from the Mediterranean. Very spectacular. 

LANGIA ZENZEROIDES is one of the world's most spectacular Hawkmoths. The pattern and resting pose of the moth renders the most amazing camouflage. Wing scales are some of the largest of any species in the world. The eggs, emerald green when laid, become deep Burgundy when maturing. Larvae are robust and rugged. Don't miss this exceptional and very large Hawkmoth.

GLANVILLE FRITILLARY cinxia larvae are immediately available. In Britain the species is found on the Isle of Wight coastal cliffs. Some have been established elsewhere in Britain. Maybe they could be spread further. The larvae are easily reared sleeved on pots of Narrow-leaved Plantain. These larvae will pupate this spring and emerge as butterflies in early summer. Available for a limited time because they are growing fast!

THERE ARE SPECIAL SALE PRICES ON , PLASTIC REARING CONTAINERS, SLEEVES, and on selected livestock. Please click on MARKET STALL on the main menu - top left of the page.

SPRING IS ARRIVING AT LAST! Warmer, showery weather is already encouraging some bud-burst, Blackthorn blossom and fluffy Pussy Willow. Time to start sampling with a moth trap the spring moths that visit these blooms. See the CURRENT LIVESTOCK for early larvae of several species of Fritillary, Hairstreak eggs that will be larvae very soon. Emperor and Tau Emperor are laying, and so are Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell. Woolly Bear larvae are available immediately, and lots more will be happening during this spring.

PUPAE OF EXOTIC BUTTERFLIES. The range is greater this month, and includes very fine Morpho and Caligo species. The pupae are as amazing as the butterflies, with their extremely odd and artistic shapes, colours, camouflage and metallic markings. If you have never tried them you will be amazed at the variety and beauty! Time to order is NOW! 

ONE OF THE RAREST OF BRITISH BUTTERFLIES you can easily help to spread and establish on Blackthorn Hedges: The BLACK HAIRSTREAK pruni is available as hibernating eggs. Due to huge breeding successes there are big price reductions on orders for 50 and 100 eggs. Maybe you could see if you can establish this rarity in your area?

PINE HAWK Hyloicus pinastri pupae have become very difficult to obtain in recent years. A new stock has just been received and are available in sufficient quantities for breeding. Take a look at the pictures of the interesting changes in the pattern and colour of the larvae, that keep them camouflaged in all their ages. For breeding, set up the moths with nectar flowers (eg Valerian or Buddleia). Pairing is usually not difficult, and laying is often profuse.

Woolly Bear larvae of the Garden Tiger Moth caja are now available. Maybe you can release some in a hedgerow in your area, and help the local populations which were once much more widespread. We are offering stocks of 50 to help spread them across the country. Would you try this? Did you know you can hibernate Woolly Bears in a sleeve on Willow or Sallow? The larvae will hibernate in the ball of fallen leaes in the bottom of the sleeve, and resume eating when the bugs open in Spring.

BROAD-BORDERED BEE HAWK fuciformis pupae are available again this year. Very seldom can we offer them, but there are good numbers. Store cool to breed in June. Don't miss these amazing Hawkmoths! We see them as moths with clear wings. but they are born with scales which fly off when they take their first spin!

Our old favourite Osier Willow Salix viminalis can also be bought now as packets of 10 cuttings. Whether in the ground or in pots, roots appear very rapidly. In summer it is possible for a single cutting in suitable conditions to become a 2 metre high bush! We have discoverd that quite a variety of Hawkmoths, Silkmoths and others thrive on Osier. Put some in and be surprised.

There is a very wide variety of species available. Please search through Current Eggs and Larvae, and Current Pupae to see just how much there is now and coming shortly. Notice the eggs and larvae of large Fritillaries, Marbled White and rare Hairstreaks. 

Cocoons from North America are available now until stocks are sold, and most of the European species likewise. Some may be in smaller quantities, so it is wise to plan ahead and secure breeding stocks for next season while they are available.

SLEEVES for rearing larvae are on temporary SPECIAL OFFER at the moment.

Have you ever used a sleeve with a zip side opening? This is a new WWB innovation, as is the use of velcro ties for sleeve ends. Have a look at the sleeve section. Once you use a Zip Sleeve you won't want to go back to the traditional sleeve with no side access. A small extra cost for a huge benefit!

THE SEASON FOR MOTH TRAPPING is best from May, but there are some winter moths that can be attracted in kinder winter weather. The MOONLANDER MOTH TRAP with Goodden GEMLIGHT works in the field, in places where there is no electricity. It is the most compact and lightweight trap in the world. The GemLight runs all night on 8 AA batteries. This compares with a typical battery the size and weight of a brick!  Take a trap on holiday! It occupies little space in a suitcase and is only the weight of a camera. There is always space in a car, caravan or boat, because it is so compact. The batteries can be charged from a vehicle or on mains. 

PYJAMA CAGES are designed for the practical breeder who needs to be able to clean and renovate cages thoroughly and rapidly. They are proof against most parasites and the most escape-proof, for active larvae, of any design we have used. Eggs laid on the sides of the cage are dealt collected or sleeved with the minimum of time and effort. Pyjama cages are easily stored flat for the winter and quickly re-assembled in spring.

A new size of plastic rearing container has been introduced. The Size 8 comes in packs of 6. It is deeper than the flat Size 7, which allows more space for larvae and foodplant, without being so large that larvae stray off the food. This is very important when establishing young larvae. Buy a pack, and we think you will want to have some more!

Moonlander Moth Trap and Goodden GemLight. Click to see

and the Goodden GemLight. A completely new kind of moth light. Click here

CAGES  See PYJAMA CAGES Click here

LIVESTOCK

If you are a beginner and need information on rearing from small caterpillars, or hatching out pupae, please order the book shown above. INSTRUCTIONS ARE NOT SENT WITH EACH SPECIES, you need to acquire basic skills and this book is a simple way to learn them.

LIVESTOCK ON OUR WEBSITE  is very wide-ranging. Please scroll down the different sections. There are some very interesting species for the connoisseur and for the beginner.

AWAY DATES

ON YOUR ACCOUNT please enter dates when you cannot receive livestock. Letting us know by any other means will not apply the dates to the system and will not prevent dispatch of orders when you cannot receive them.

NEWS and UPDATES

We will email you: just go to My Account and click to receive these.

Newly hatched or small larvae are too small to be put into a cage or aquarium. If you can put them on growing foodplant, protected with a sleeve, that is ideal. Alternatively keep in a plastic box, lined with absorbent paper, in close confinement with fresh foodplant, and changed daily. Fuller hints on the page for Plastic Rearing Containers. For illustrated instructios see the All Colour Paperback BUTTERFLIES.

IMPORTANT NOTES

 Livestock orders not able to be supplied are carried over for priority supply the next season. Please inform us if you wish to cancel and be credited or refunded.

Livestock sent to UK addresses will be replaced or credited if it arrives dead and is reported within 2 days. Not if it dies subsequently or is reported later.   Orders are sent internationally only at the buyer's risk.

Please note that all prices are subject to 20% VAT (except books and orders from non-EU countries), and carriage charges, which will be added to your order at the checkout.

Livestock sent outside the UK, whilst we do our best to see that it arrives safely, is sent at the BUYER'S RISK. Livestock to Mediterranean countries is often subject to delay and hot climate. Please do not order eggs/larvae, nor pupae that are not dormant, to be sent where it is hot.  Livestock sent to USA need USDA permits. We cannot send to AUS or NZ, unless government authorised.

WWB email: sales@wwb.co.uk