Contemporary approaches to conservation breeding of imperiled butterflies: opportunities and limitations

Captive breeding is progressively being employed as a stop gap conservation strategy to help stabilize critically imperiled butterfly populations. Despite significant monetary resources allocated to such aggressive efforts, relatively little information is available on best practices. Existing imperiled butterfly captive breeding programs at zoos, museums and other facilities are reviewed along with current organism husbandry, propagation and reintroduction techniques. A summary of programmatic limitations and suggestions for improvement are presented.