Butterfly Wars

Keeping butterflies alive is difficult. Wasps are a problem but the real issue where we live is the praying mantis. I have heard the local variety has bred with an aggressive arrival from South Africa and have become not only prolific in number but also voracious. We use netted containers as seen below, where they then latch.

Below is a new butterfly that has had it's body consumed and some wings and only a small part of the body is left. We have seen a praying mantis actually eating large caterpilars and even butterflies before they fly off. We didn't take a photograph of that (too gruesome) but highlights the problem with insects out of control.

We would have these predators flying on to our property every day looking for food. I have seen houses nearby with several praying mantis' on the walls of the house. It was almost in plague proportions. Despite that, 80 new butterflies took to the air from our home.