Prague, Aug 24 (CTK) – The Papilonia House of Butterflies, which was opened in Prague centre on Wednesday, offers 600 exotic butterflies on the area of 150 square metres, its co-owner Michael Kucera has said.
The same owners are running a similar pavilion in the spa town of Karlovy Vary, west Bohemia.
Exotic butterflies need a clean environment without any chemicals that imitates their natural habitat, rain forests all over the world, as much as possible. This is why the temperature in Papilonia is 26 degrees Celsius, while the air humidity amounts to 80 percent.
Visitors can admire 40 different species of butterflies in Papilonia. Their population is constantly changing since a butterfly lives from two to four weeks.
“We are buying 500 cocoons a week,” Kucera said, adding that they come directly from tropical rainforests. The firm purchases them through an intermediary in Britain.
The biggest butterfly in Papilonia is the Atlas moth (Attacus atlas) whose wingspan may reach up to 30 centimetres.
The most conspicuous one is the Peleides blue morpho (Morpho peleides) with up to 20-cm wingspans, which is dubbed a flying precious stone since it is changing blue shades on its wings when flying.
“Butterflies feed on nectar from seed plants and decomposing fruit. In Papilonia, we give them additional food in the from of a sugar solution,” Kucera said.
The owners decided to open a house with butterflies since they wanted to offer something that would attract people regardless of their age and nationality.
They were considering presenting the domestic butterfly species first. However, after consultations with entomologists, they found out that this was impossible. Butterflies common in the Czech Republic need a big space for living, while their exotic counterparts are not flying so much since rain forests provide them with everything they need for living, Kucera said.
