About Raising a Butterfly
I'm Ali. I raise butterflies, and I built this site because care information for rearing is scattered across forum posts, extension PDFs, and outdated pages. I wanted one place that answered the practical questions.
What's here
Rearing guides
Species by species, from finding eggs through release — including what goes wrong and how to tell the difference.
Tools
Emergence timing, a caterpillar identification key, symptom triage, and a regional planting calendar.
Classroom resources
Units, observation journals, and printables for teachers running a butterfly project.
How to read what's here
This is a personal site, not a research institution. I'm not a biologist and I don't publish original research. What's written here comes from raising butterflies myself and from reading widely about it.
For anything where being wrong carries real cost — a disease you are trying to identify, a permit question, whether to release a butterfly at all — check it against your state extension service, the Xerces Society, or Monarch Joint Venture. If you find something here that's wrong, please tell me.
Get in touch
Questions, corrections, or a photo of something you can't identify — send them over. I read every message.