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When breeding butterflies in captivity, it is important to focus on rearing facilities, the choice of healthy population, and the care for the chrysalises. One of the main factors that determine how a butterfly emerges is the fixation of its chrysalis. The study of the butterfly life cycle and emergence from chrysalis was conducted on three butterfly species - the giant owl (Caligo memnon), the common morpho (Morpho peleides), and the indian oakleaf (Kallima inachus), which were the most commercially available species at the time. The aim was to determine the most appropriate type of butterfly chrysalis fixation that would yield the best results with the emergence of the highest numbers of viable imagoes for future breeding in captive conditions. The results of four different types of fixations of the selected butterfly species were compared with each other, and with results obtained from other institutions that breed butterflies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A characteristic feature of the giant owl butterfly, i.e. Caligo memnon, is its big wing eyespot. This feature could serve as deceiving functionality for the butterfly against predators. As evidenced by scanning electron microscope (SEM) image on black part of eyespot, the scales on wing eyespot contain nanostructured ridges and cross-ribs. Applying direct measurement, statistical method, and Fourier analysis, the authors evidence that these nanostructures display order-disorder in their shape and position. The autocorrelation of SEM image provides average values of characteristic periods of the order-disorder nanostructures together with an estimation of corresponding correlation lengths. Linecuts obtained from the Fourier transform of SEM image were also analysed with the Hosemann function to extract similar information. These analyses indicate that the nanostructured order-disorder may contribute to blackness on wing eyespot. The authors thus conclude that the blackness on wing eyespot of C. memnon could be attributed to contributions from both the nanostructured order-disorder and melanin pigment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]