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After a stop for Chinese food in Guapilis, Oscar and I proceeded to Grace Cordero Fallas’ home about 10 miles away. Her butterfly rearing operations are more modest than those of Sergio’s but with only three years at it, she is going strong. In fact, according to both her and her brother-in-law, it has made a real difference in her life. It not only has provided meaningful work (hard for women in rural Costa Rica to come by) but also an income she only dreamed about not that long ago. |
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Since getting started, her family has been able to buy a piece of property and to begin building a house. Prior to butterfly farming, they could only rent, the wages of a grocery deliveryman not going far. This is the open-air dining room, and "my" bedroom through the door. |
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Grace grows about 20 species of butterflies, averaging about 300 pupae produced each week. The species she grows can all be found nearby, vital since she does not own a car. The family’s only means of transportation is a motorcycle, or a taxi for local errands (including to the field) or to get to the bus station. |
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Grace’s lab is under a sheet metal ramada, about 15’ x 20’. Caging is primitive, constructed from scrounged materials—but made entirely by Grace. Between the house and the lab is one flight cage, currently not being used as the plants are recovering from a period of hosting larvae. In the Caribbean lowlands, ants can be a serious problem so a number of the benches have their legs in cans of oil. |
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Beyond the lab are two more flight cages, one still under construction. In the one currently in use, there were several species flying, mating and laying eggs on plants in the ground. These plants are species purchased at a nursery since they do not occur naturally on her property. For some of these, ova are collected and allowed to hatch in the lab, safe from egg parasites. When hatched they are then transferred back to the flight cage where they will remain until they are close to pupation. Then they return to cages and cut plants. I inquired about the deep trenches that cut through the property and learned that they are for rainwater drainage since the area receives 10-12 feet each year. |
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Behind the furthest flight cage is a stream (pretty polluted) and a more natural area. The property next door is a field in which yuca (manioc or cassava) is grown, not currently planted though there are many young recruits. Towards the back of this lot also grow plants which Grace can harvest from each day to feed larvae maintained in cages.
Next page
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