Special Offers
Pure Silk hanks These are English reeled 20/22 Denier raw silk hanks produced at the Lullingstone Silk Farm and Worldwide Butterflies.
These fine silk hanks were reeled on the same hand reeling machine, the only one in
The size and weight not standard but the illustration shows a hank picked at random. This is a unique product!
Special temporary promotion price.
NETTING Fine Black Nylon 5 metres 170cm wide
Was £18.95 (£3.79/m) SPECIAL SALE PRICE now £13.95 (£2.79/m)
Ideal for covering box tops, cages, netting replacement and making sleeves. This soft netting is ideal for making field nets.
This netting is durable, resists tearing and deterioration in UV light. It is fine enough to keep out minute flies and parasites.
Peruvian Black Beauty Stick Insect Peruphasma schultei,
These are unsuitable to send internationally but can be sent to GB addresses.
Only recently discoverd in Peruvian forest. You get adults of both sexes. Very attractive insects, easy to keep in a ventilated cage, feeding on Privet. They enjoy a spray most days with tepid water.
This species comes from just a small area in Peru and are not known from anywhere else. They are very special.
It is best not to let YOUNG children have the insects walking on their hands, because they have a defence mechanism that produces a pungent fluid when they are alarmed. Sometimes an irritant. You should wash hands after handling.
The insects are otherwise completely harmless. Their appearance in contrasting black and scarlet is an interesting example of colours that warn off predators.
Eggs are laid loose on the bottom of the cage.
NETTING Fine Black Nylon 10 metres 170cm wide
If you are thinking of making a netting structure, cage covering and replacement or making sleeves for rearing larvae, this is the ideal netting.
Soft and easy to use. Durable, resists tearing and deterioration in UV light. It is fine enough to keep out minute flies and parasites.
NETTING Fine Black Nylon 20 metres (2 x 10m) 170cm wide.
Was £53.90 (£1.90/m) SPECIAL SALE PRICE now £39.95
Ideal for large structures, flight areas etc.
Use for cage covering or making sleeves for rearing larvae.
This netting is durable, resists tearing and deterioration in UV light. It is fine enough to keep out minute flies and parasites.
Ordering in 20 metre lots brings the price down very low! A lot less than £1.90 per metre, 170cm wide. Probably an unbeatable price.
Marsh Fritillary Eurydryas aurinia
The butterflies fly from May into June. Eggs are laid in large clusters on the underside of Devil’s Bit Scabious.The larvae Feed on Honeysuckle (wild is best), Teasel Snowberry or the natural foodplant Devil’s Bit Scabious. The larvae live in a tightly formed web, growing only a little before they hibernate in autumn.
High Brown Fritillary Fabriciana adippe 10 spring larvae
VERY SPECIAL PRICE for a rare species! These larvae will pupate and produce butterflies this season.
A scarce species, difficult to obtain. Foodplant Violet leaves. Enclose the larvae on potted plants and protect from predators. A Size 3 sleeve is ideal. Butterflies are produced this summer.
Marsh Fritillary Eurodryas aurinia
SPECIAL PRICE FOR 20 Larvae!
Larvae feed low amongst the leaves of Devil’s Bit Scabioius, but will also eat Honeysuckle. Honeysuckle starts leafing very early in the year, especially where sheltered in woodland. By February it is not diffficult to find enough foodplant to keep caterpillars well fed. In captivity the larvae are recorded as accepting Ribwort Plantain Plantago lanceolata, Teasel Dipsacus and Snowberry Symphoricarpos.
Pre-hibernation larvae might be induced to develop and produce another generation with long day-length and sufficient warmth.
After waking in the spring the larvae grow fast, pupating in April and emerging as butterflies in May.
Yellow-legged Tortoiseshell Nymphalis xanthomelas
A very handsome and richly coloured Large Tortoiseshell which occurs in parts of Europe and in the Far East. Foodplants: Willows, Sallows, Elm, and probably many other trees, including those for polychloros. The butterfly, caterpillar and pupae are all brighter and grander than polycholoros. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Large Tortoiseshell Nymphalis polychloros
Exceptionally difficult to obtain.
One of Europe’s grand butterflies! Now thought to be extinct in Britain. The larvae feed on a variety of fruit trees, Willow, Sallow, Elms, Aspen, Poplars and Birches. Easy to rear, particularly when sleeved on growing foodplant, but protect from excessive rain. Butterflies are produced this year. A very popular species. Please order early.
Levant Hawkmoth Theretra alecto
This streamlined Hawkmoth occurs in Asia and Asia Minor, ranging westwards as far as Turkey and Greece.
Winter pupae are refrigerated until spring.
The appearance of the larvae has a lot in common with those of the Silver-striped Hawkmoth Hippotion celerio, and even the Elephant Hawk elpenor, in its middle stages. Foodplants are Vine Vitis and Virginia Creeper Parthenocissus and Boston Ivy. They also feed on Madder Rubia. Like Hippotion, there may be a number of other possible foodplants. Pupae are formed in leaf litter on or near the ground.
The larvae develop quickly in summer and produce continuous generations as long as summer persists.
Canadian Bee Hawk Hemaris diffinis
A new species to WWB! These are from Quibec.
About the same size as our Bee Hawk fuciformis. Distinguishable by darker wing borders, and light coloured edges to the thorax. On emergence the wings are covered with scales which are shed in flight, leaving transparent bee-like wings.
The larvae feed on Honeysuckle and may take Snowberry Symphoricarpos.
These pupae will produce adults this summer. In warm situations there can be two broods in a season.
