Butterflies are harder to keep than moths because they are strong fliers and require large cages. Many serious breeders provide greenhouses or large outdoor mesh aviaries to house them.

You can raise many local species, simply by collecting the caterpillars or by buying them from breeders. If you rear locally occurring species, you can eventually release them but never release species that are not found locally.

There are many reference books available to help you to identify the foodplants of the various species. Sometimes it is possible to find newly laid eggs, once you know which plants to look on and what the eggs look like. You can pick the plants complete with the eggs, but only if the plants are common species growing outside protected areas.

Starting with eggs avoids the risk of acquiring parasitised larvae and allows you to observe the complete process of metamorphosis from egg to adult. Some butterflies overwinter as pupae and will not emerge until the following spring.