While Carlos has now retired, his son John operates Insect Lore USA in an enlarged facility in Shafter, California, complete with a Bugseum and vistor center. Carlos' daughter Jennifer is head of Insect Lore Europe, located in picturesque Cornwall, England. Painted Lady caterpillars travel from Cornwall to destinations throughout the the United Kingdom and the European Union.
Insect Lore has expanded the insect lineup over the years as well. In addition to butterflies, Insect Lore offers Ant, Ladybug, Silkworm, Worm and Frog Kits, as well as bug catchers, keepers, viewers, and other exciting items for bug lovers.
The first Butterfly Garden Kits were wildly colored (this was the 60's, after all) and the habitat was a box with round plastic windows.
Groovy!
Today, the Butterfly Garden includes a see-through reusable mesh habitat.
50 million caterpillars by mail later, however, Carlos White's original caterpillar diet remains the same.
The July 23, 1999 launch of NASA’s Columbia Space Shuttle carried some unusual astronauts - Insect Lore Painted Lady Butterflies! Insect Lore partnered with a group working with NASA to put the winged creatures into orbit. Scientists wanted to determine if caterpillars would undergo metamorphosis in a zero-gravity environment. Would an adult butterfly form properly within its chrysalis without the aid of gravity to "pull" its parts into place?
Insect Lore Space Shuttle ExperimentSpacehab, the team NASA used to conduct living experiments on the space shuttle missions, approached John White at the National Science Teacher’s Convention. “When we were asked to be part of a shuttle launch and put some of the first butterflies into space,” John grinned, “we immediately said yes!”
The experiment began. A set of chrysalides were housed in a specially-designed habitat developed at the University of Colorado. Video feeds of the progress of the butterflies’ development were available via the Internet from spacehab.com, a website dedicated to the flight. A curriculum was developed with a high school near Atlanta and the students monitored the mission from their classroom.
The result? All of Insect Lore's butterflies successfully emerged aboard the Columbia - in fact, they hatched perfectly in orbit! The astronauts also got a kick out of watching them fly upside down in zero gravity. The butterflies and their habitat have been preserved and were placed on permanent display in Washington D.C. at the National Air and Space Museum on May 3, 2000.
