Current EGGS and LARVAE

Buckthorn seedlings Rhamnus catharticus

Foodplant of the Brimstone Butterfly Gonepteryx rhamni.

Sent as bare-root seedlings to plant immediately. Grow in pots or planted outside.

Grow these into bushes to feed the larvae and attract Brimstones to where you are.

Supplied in lots of 10 Small, 5 Medium, or 2 Large

Copaxa witti, Mexico

This is a first time for WWB!  Male and female moths distinctly different colour and pattern. Apparently easily reared, the larvae feed on Bay Tree Laurus nobilis, and other Lauraceae,  Oaks including evergreen, Willows and Sallows. Very likely other trees as well.

Eggs sent direct to you by our breeder in Europe.

Perennial Milkweed SEED Asclepias syriaca.

Large-leaved, herbaceous perennial. Starts to leaf in May, through the summer until autumn. Reputedly invasive but we have not found it so. This species produces the largest and most abundant leaves of all the foodplants for the Milkweed Butterfly (Monarch). It grows well outside: the stems dying down after flowering, and reappearing in spring each year. In a greenhouse the growth can be enormous! 

The flowers are highly attractive to pollinating insects. From the globular flowerheads, conical seedpods emerge, covered with tubercles. When ripe these split open, freeing a cloud of windborne seeds. In their native American habitat, this is the main way the plant is distributed. It is not found wild in Europe.

 To send a GIFT CERTIFICATE Click here 

Lettered Sphinx Deidamia inscriptum Eastern half of North America

A little larger than Hummingbird and Bee Hawks. First time offered by WWB. Very active. On the wing as early as April into June. In captivity the adults will deposit eggs on the sides of a cage, box or bag and will lay without provision of nectar.

The larvae are flexible, often feeding doubled backwards. They feed on Grape vine, Creepers Ampelopsis and Parthenocissus, also Oxydendrum. Larvae do well sleeved and not too crowded.

An attractive and interesting Hawkmoth, apparently not difficult to raise in captivity.

Our thanks to A. R. Pittaway for allowing the use of some of his photographs of this species.

Osier Willow cuttings S. viminalis

Years ago we planted a stick that was floating down a river in Wiltshire.  That was in 1954! It grew – rapidly – producing a wealth of leaves.  We tried it as a foodplant and discovered that not only did British species do well on it, but exotic silkmoth larvae as well.

This stick was the daddy of hosts of willow thickets that we have established in Dorset, Cornwall and in France.

Osier is Basket Willow, the flexible essential for basket weaving. It makes a wonderful woven hedge. It can form living sculptures. Winter or summer, Osier makes wonderful screens and windbreaks. Cover for wildlife and game. Osier is grown as a crop for energy production. In short it is a blessing to the environment, and very pleasant on the eye in landscaping schemes.

 We are offering a bunch of 10 cuttings for you to try not only as probably the most universal foodplant for larvae, but a great addition to your garden and grounds. 

Probably the easiest cuttings to strike and grow. You simply push them into the ground, during autumn or spring. Leaves will appear within the first fortnight if planted in spring, roots quickly follow. In the first year they will more than double in size. Next year, in normal drought free conditions,  if you winter prune very hard, you will have perhaps 2 metres of growth on every branch, providing masses of foodplant. You may even be able to feed some in the first year.

You can store cuttings before planting, either in a polythene bag in the fridge, or standing in water. In water they often start to root. It is advisable to plant them before the roots actually burst out of the bark.
 

This plant is a complete success story – you will be pleased you tried it!  

Artificial Mulberry Diet powder for 20 Silkworms

Until now it has not been possible to rear silkworms without their natural foodplant Mulberry. Mulberry is often difficult to find but we are now able to offer a very convenient artificial diet that can be used as a substitute food, in any part of the world and at almost any time of the year, providing you can keep the silkworms at 25-28 degrees C. Eggs supplied in November/December will need to be refrigerated for 8-12 weeks before incubation.

The diet is sent as a sachet of powder that is easily prepared in the kitchen. It comes packeted to give sufficient food for the entire life of the silkworms, enough for 20 Silkworms. The powder can be kept for a year or more in a fridge. Made up diet can be refrigerated and kept for a month or more. Silkworms fed on diet will usually change to leaf if required, but if fed at first on leaf, they will not usually take to the diet. The life of a silkworm kept at the required temperature is about 5 weeks. 

Artificial diet takes a lot less time and trouble than rearing on leaf.  More importantly this enables rearing when Mulberry cannot be obtained. Eggs supplied in November - January will need to be refrigerated for 8-12 weeks before incubation. Rearing Silkworms is very educational and suitable for schools and families.

SILKWORM EGGS Bombyx mori  WHITE COCOONS

 White larvae, producing attractive pure white cocoons. Silkworms require Mulberry leaf, or artificial diet.

Instructions are not sent with the eggs but they are given at the head of the Silk section. Click on silk near the bottom of the Main Menu (top left of the screen)

In winter orders will be booked for supply in the spring.  The best rearing season is May to October. Eggs supplied from October onwards are for hatching in the following year.  Although there are reports of using other foodplants, the only satisfactory food plant for silkworms is Mulberry.  This is sometimes found in the gardens of large houses and old parsonages. Mulberry trees are available from larger nurseries. Any Morus species is suitable: White, Black or any other Mulberry. The larvae eat a lot, so make sure you have a good supply of leaves.

NOW YOU CAN REAR SILKWORMS EVEN IF YOU HAVE NO MULBERRY! There are sachets of artificial diet that you make up in the kitchen. Each sachet is the amount needed to rear 20 silkworms throughout their life.

SILKWORM EGGS Bombyx mori  WHITE COCOONS

 White larvae, producing attractive pure white cocoons. Silkworms require Mulberry leaf, or artificial diet.

Instructions are not sent with the eggs but they are given at the head of the Silk section. Click on silk near the bottom of the Main Menu (top left of the screen)

In winter orders will be booked for supply in the spring.  The best rearing season is May to October. Eggs supplied from October onwards are for hatching in the following year.  Although there are reports of using other foodplants, the only satisfactory food plant for silkworms is Mulberry.  This is sometimes found in the gardens of large houses and old parsonages. Mulberry trees are available from larger nurseries. Any Morus species is suitable: White, Black or any other Mulberry. The larvae eat a lot, so make sure you have a good supply of leaves.

NOW YOU CAN REAR SILKWORMS EVEN IF YOU HAVE NO MULBERRY! There are sachets of artificial diet that you make up in the kitchen. Each sachet is the amount needed to rear 20 silkworms throughout their life.

SILKWORM EGGS Bombyx mori  WHITE COCOONS

 White larvae, producing attractive pure white cocoons. Silkworms require Mulberry leaf, or artificial diet.

Instructions are not sent with the eggs but they are given at the head of the Silk section. Click on silk near the bottom of the Main Menu (top left of the screen)

In winter orders will be booked for supply in the spring.  The best rearing season is May to October. Eggs supplied from October onwards are for hatching in the following year.  Although there are reports of using other foodplants, the only satisfactory food plant for silkworms is Mulberry.  This is sometimes found in the gardens of large houses and old parsonages. Mulberry trees are available from larger nurseries. Any Morus species is suitable: White, Black or any other Mulberry. The larvae eat a lot, so make sure you have a good supply of leaves.

NOW YOU CAN REAR SILKWORMS EVEN IF YOU HAVE NO MULBERRY! There are sachets of artificial diet that you make up in the kitchen. Each sachet is the amount needed to rear 20 silkworms throughout their life.

All Colour Paperback BUTTERFLIES Robert Goodden.

No other book gives such plain and practical advice for the study of butterflies and moths.
A comprehensive guide - outlining techniques for the breeding and study of butterflies and moths. This book also shows a grand selection of butterflies of every continent. Packed with essential information, colourful pictures and diagrams by the butterfly artist JOYCE BEE. Paperback. 160  pages. 7 x 4". An essential guide for the beginner.

This book went out of print many years ago. WWB bought the entire stock of the English language edition. Stocks have now sold out. There are some used copies, damage or marking mainly on the covers, which does not materially affect the content. Even these are now down to rather few copies.
Published by Hamlyn. Available only from Worldwide Butterflies.

Pyjama Mini Cage 22 x 29 x 25cm high

This popular cage has just got even better. Nearly a third larger, and much improved dimensions.

Ideal as a beginner's cage, but also for the busy breeder who wants separate small cages. Excellent as an emerging cage for chrysalides and cocoons, ideal for keeping small numbers of larvae or other insects, when large enough for cage rearing.

This cage is suitable for laying out small numbers of pupae to emerge. Also for rearing smaller numbers of larvae or smaller larvae. Baby larvae should be first reared in plastic rearing containers or kept covered on growing food. Please see the note on the page for plastic rearing containers. This cage will hold small covered pots of plant, and larger sizes of cage are available for larger subjects.

When necessary the netting cover can be slipped off for cleaning or replacement. The Pyjama Mini cage is assembled in minutes and easily packed flat for winter storage. As the interest grows there are larger sizes available. For the experienced breeder the Mini Cage has many uses where a series of smaller cages is needed for separating species and giving different treatment.

The cover can be washed by hand or machine, making your used cage like new for almost no effort, and no cost.