KZN Butterfly

So many beautiful species all with bright colours found world wide.

Cache is basically a Park and Grab. Small container with Log only so Bring along your own Pen. Replace container as found to ensure cache is ready for next Geocacher to find.

As it was a rainy day when we visited it was not a good day to visit the butterflies. Please feel free to attach 

Butterflies are insects, but large scaly wings set them apart. These wings allow them to fly but only when their body temperature is above 86 degrees.

• The fastest butterflies can fly up to 30 miles per hour.

• Scientists estimate that there are 28,000 species of butterflies throughout the world.

• Most butterflies are found in tropical rainforests, but they can live in all climates and altitudes of the world.

  

  Fun facts about Butterflies

•  Butterflies "taste" with their feet! Butterfly feet are actually tiny receptors which allow them to "taste" the food that they are standing on.

• There are about 28,000 species of butterflies.

• Butterflies can see red, green, and yellow.

• Monarch butterflies journey from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, a distance of about 3000 km, and return to the North again in the spring.

• The top butterfly flight speed is 20 km/h per hour

• Butterflies cannot fly if their body temperature is less than 30 degrees

Kwa-Zulu Natal Butterfly Sanctuary (KZNBS)

The first Butterfly House (Butterfly Farm/Butterfly Sanctuary) was built on private land by CBISA in Ramsgate of KZN near Margate in 2002.

Having a tea garden, restaurant, craft shop and a butterfly breeding centre, it averaged 20 people per day out of season and 150 people per day in season.

This Butterfly Farm became internationally known, drawing many scientists from Russia, South Africa, London and Australia amongst others. It was operated by CBISA as a Butterfly Farm in general from 2002 to 2008.

The land owners refused to sell the land to CBISA and CBISA then made the decision to find a new venue to house the planned International Standard KZN Butterfly Sanctuary (KZNBS).

Land in Ramsgate was purchased by CBISA in 2016 and start building the Sanctuary in 2018.

Kwa-Zulu Natal Butterfly Breeding Centre

These are butterfly domes (Lepidomes) also referred to as Butterfly Breeding Centres in which butterflies are bred to be sold for butterfly weddings and all other functions. The releasing of butterflies in localised areas helps populate butterfly colonies and at the same time providing the owner with a reasonable monthly income.

The lepidome is 6m 12m x 6m x 2.4m high at its highest point.

The construction of the lepidome is between 6 to 14 days These Lepidomes suite the areas in which there are either farmers or small land holdings.

Kwa-Zulu Natal Butterfly Breeding Station

These are butterfly domes (Lepidomes) also referred to as Butterfly Breeding Stations in which butterflies are bred for educational purposes, such as schools, universities and businesses. These are usually hired out for the duration of the butterfly specie’s life cycle to the interested parties and maintained by the students for the duration of the breeding program. These lepidomes are 2m x 2m x 2m (small) or 3m x 3m x 2m (large).