Cost Rica Journal Entry 1

ENTRY 2
Mariposas Del Trópico
March 19, 2001

Early on March 19, many of the breeders gathered at the Butterfly Farm to drop off their pupae for the day’s shipment, and to attend an important, three-part meeting. The first part reviewed and operational aspects of exportation and butterfly husbandry. Sanitation was of primary concern. Since all pupae exported by CRES are tracked, tied to each producer, it is easy to see who needs to "clean up their act." Joris strongly recommended using chlorine bleach at a 1% solution for spraying the pupae prior to packing them to bring to CRES, and a 10% solution to clean cages and sleeves used with caterpillars.

The second portion of the meeting included a presentation by Jorge Hernåndez Benavidez, a biologist with MINAE-SINAC. Jorge is involved with the permitting process and reviewed the requirements of breeders to comply with Costa Rican law.

After Jorge finished, Joris introduced me to the breeders. Though my Spanish is passable in one-on-one conversations, I was at a loss for words addressing 40 strangers from the front of the room. Joris carried the ball and discussed what I was doing in Costa Rica and how they could be involved. He then passed around a clipboard where the breeders could indicate their interest in hosting me at their homes in the weeks ahead. After it was all over, my awkwardness faded as the group warmly welcomed me and introduced themselves. I didn’t count the names but was honored to see that many wanted to have me as their guest.

Joris had already made arrangements with Sergio Hidalgo Chavorria, one of his top producers, for me to go to his finca (farm) for a few days. When the meeting was over at 11:30, we promptly hit the road as Sergio and his partner Luis had a busy day still ahead of them. In addition to rearing live butterflies for export, they have a booming souvenir business and had a truckload of mounted butterflies to deliver to various retail outlets along the way. Most were shops at various tourist locations but we also made a delivery to the gift shop at INBio (Instituto Nacional de Bioversidad). We didn’t have the time to peruse their huge insect collections but I hope to make it there at some point during my trip.

Sergio is a young man driven to succeed. At 24, he is producing nearly 600 pupae each week. Besides this and his souvenir business, he is attending a trade school to learn business administration and marketing. Since his classes are on Monday evenings, we stayed in San Ramon at his mother’s place rather than going to his finca that day.Mariposas Del Tropico, Sergio’s finca, is located on the highway near the community of Angostura, about 20 miles east of the Pacific port of Puntarenas. His father owns the farm of about 80 hectares that also runs 45 head of cattle.

Mariposas Del Trópico is open to the public and has a sign out on the highway. About a hundred yards from the pavement, behind the house that Sergio and an employee couple share, is the lab and butterfly house. Visitation is low but Sergio thinks that is OK since he finds giving tours not as rewarding as growing butterflies or producing souvenirs. In the display butterfly house are larval foodplants for various species of butterflies. Eggs are collected from these daily to be reared elsewhere.

Sergio's butterfly rearing operations impressed me. They are extensive and include several flight cages. I learned that after a couple of years feeding butterflies, the plants build up defenses, which inhibit larval growth. Additionally, pathogens accumulate in the soil. As such, the large cages are periodically stripped of plants and soil. New soil and amendments are put in followed by new host plants. These plants will be allowed to grow to a sustainable size before butterflies are introduced

Sergio has several large flight cages, his operations continually expanding over the five years he has been exporting through CRES. Within one of these he is growing various species of Heliconius. Here they are sleeved with nylon mesh bags to keep them from wandering when they are ready to pupate.

The humid environment in Costa Rica is a good one for growing butterflies. It is also a good environment for various bacteria and viruses to flourish. To prevent infection and resulting losses at the destination butterfly houses in the US and Europe, chlorine bleach is used to sterilize sleeves used for rearing caterpillars. Sleeves are soaked in a 10% solution and then hung to dry for at least 48 hours before being used again.

In the Central Valley and the area around Angostura, there are two seasons, verano (the dry season (November - May) and invierno (the rainy season). Butterflies grown under too dry conditions eclose (emerge) with deformities. A sprinkler system running continuously at this time of year and using water from natural springs maintains very moist conditions. This is especially required by Morpho, Sergio's specialty. The horizontal line in this photo is the irrigation system.

For Morpho, older larvae are transferred to individual plants covered by a small cage. After a period of time, the plants are cut to about 12" and allowed to remain "fallow" until they again attain a size large enough to support another batch of larvae.