Butterflies Formosa:Showcasing the History of Taiwan's Butterflies

The exhibition features five major topics revolving around the idea of a travelogue: People and Butterflies, Knowing Butterflies, Studying Butterflies, Butterflies and Culture, and Protecting Butterflies. At the entrance is an illustration by Lin I-hsiang titled People, Butterflies and Food, showing the Taiwan sassafras (Sassafras randaiense) eaten by the caterpillar of the broad-tailed swallowtail (Agehana maraho) and the wild orange tree (Toddalia asiatica) favored by the larvae of the spangle (Papilio protenor).

(left) While the biggest and most beautiful butterflies became specimens, ones that were dead, damaged, or of inferior quality became material for collages. Butterfly wing collages helped Taiwan crawl out of poverty. But today the very idea is upsetting.

Upon entry, the visitor sees butterfly wing collages, an artform in vogue between 1950 and 1975. Its origins can be traced to the "butterfly processing" trade, in which Taiwan once dominated the world. The unique geographical conditions of Puli, in Nantou County, attracted foreign entomologists in the 19th century who came to gather specimens. In 1918, the Japanese businessman Kiyomatsu Asakura founded the first butterfly processing plant in Taiwan, and thereafter, Puli butterflies become internationally renowned. During the industry's zenith, there were 47 butterfly shops in town.

In 1919, the Taiwanese businessman Yu Muh-sheng opened the Muh Sheng Insect Collection. His collection contained many species that were later described by Japanese scholars, including Pazala eurous asakurae and Helcyra plesseni. His son Yu Ching-kin then took over, and in 1950 he expanded into the Japanese and American markets. During the peak period, they employed nearly 2,000 butterfly catchers plus hundreds of female factory workers working in processing.

After 1970, the number of butterflies suddenly dropped around Puli due to severe habitat destruction. The center of butterfly harvesting activities moved southward, while processing moved to the north. Ong Sheng-keng, based in Taipei's Beitou, was a typical example. Besides dealing in the specimens trade, he also eagerly sold butterfly wing collages around the world. Ong, a polyglot, often wrote pieces on the insects of Taiwan for international publications. In 1968, he and Yu Ching-kin described a new species, Actias neidhoeferi, becoming the first Taiwanese researchers to publish a journal article on Lepidoptera.

Butterfly wing collages were made by first drawing a sketch, mostly copies of people or scenery from postcards. Next, suitable butterfly wings were selected and applied with resin. Altogether, between 15 million and 500 million of these delightful butterflies were exported annually between 1968 and 1975, bringing in oodles of foreign currency.

By 1975, environmental awareness had come to the fore, and the butterfly processing industry gradually waned thereafter. Many processing plants became exhibition halls, such as the Muh Sheng Museum of Entomology and the Jingji Insectarium. In 2004, well after Ong's death in 1992, his family decided to donate the insect specimens and processed goods to the National Museum of Natural Science, as many as 100,000 items in all, the largest private donation of Lepidoptera specimens to the museum.

Butterfly patterns on the clothing of Rukai women symbolize diligence.

Continuing on, we come to the specimen section of the exhibition, displaying specimens of around 360 native species, about 90% of Taiwan's butterfly species. These include the Indian Cupid (Everes lacturnus rileyi), believed to be extinct in Taiwan, Satyrium esakii, and the old world swallowtail (Papilio machaon), which haven't been caught in over a decade, and rare specimens of Mycalesis suavolens kagina, Satyrium inouei, and Zophoessa siderea kanoi.

To those who wonder whether butterfly wing collages were the main reason for the catastrophic decline in Taiwan's butterflies, exhibition planner and zoological researcher Chan Mei-ling explains that excess harvesting may cause great harm to a species, but overall, it has been environmental destruction from economic growth and land development that is most culpable for this die-off. Among the most distressing losses are the Taiwan large crow (Euploea phaenareta juvia), Yang's shepherd's fritillary (Boloria pales yangi), and Taiwan's population of the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus), which are all determined to have become extinct in the 20th century.

The Taiwan large crow was a subspecies unique to Taiwan, exceedingly common in Tainan, Kaohsiung and the Hengchun Peninsula in the 1950s. The larvae may have subsisted on sea mangoes (Cerbera manghas) in the tropical coastal forests and mangroves, but with development and the destruction of seaside lands, the habitat and foods they depended on for survival were wiped out, and they died out in the 1960s.

"Once a species is extinct, it's gone. When that happens, even the most advanced technology and outlays of money can't bring it back," stresses assistant curator Jeng Ming-luen, another exhibition planner. Human encroachment has a huge impact on species, the most serious problems being habitat fragmentation and loss. If this happens to species with small habitat zones or requiring special conditions to survive, the consequences are even more dire.

The larvae of Sibataniozephyrus kuafui feed on the Taiwan beech (Fagus hayatae), a protected species limited to the fog-forests deep in the mountains of northern Taiwan. With the beauty and rarity of this butterfly, plus the fact that it is not easy to catch in adulthood because it only appears in the summertime, unscrupulous businessmen would chop down entire trees bearing the eggs and transport them back for artificial cultivation, then selling them at a high price. Such behavior-killing the goose that lays the golden eggs-is a mortal wound to the habitats and very survival of both butterflies and plants.

The male Danaid eggfly (Hypolimnas misippus) is purplish black, while the female mimics the poisonous common tiger (Danaus genutia), with orange wings, to fool predators. This is a clear example of sexual dimorphism in butterflies.

Stemming from a time long ago when butterflies filled the skies, butterfly imagery has had a close connection with the lives of the peoples of Taiwan. The Chinese word for "butterfly" sounds somewhat similar to "good fortune," and as such symbolizes the latter. For this reason, the traditional architecture found at the Lin Family Gardens in Banqiao includes lattice windows incorporating butterfly motifs. And the face of the latest ROC ID card, introduced at the end of 2005, bears a butterfly image under the name field that's only visible under ultraviolet light, as a security feature.

The exhibition will display butterfly-related allusions and customs of different peoples and cultures. For example, a butterfly pattern on a Rukai women's dress stands for diligence, while for Paiwan women it represents skill at weaving. Also, in the tradition of the Rukai people of Wutai, men who are nimble and swift of foot would earn the name Lyalivarane (Butterfly), and the chief would give them a butterfly as a head ornament. But since butterflies tend to be small and less eye-catching, the tribespeople often substituted the atlas moth (Attacus atlas). Nowadays, butterfly-shaped jewelry is a common substitute.

Found only on Lanyu, the Magellan birdwing (Troides magellanus), whose golden hindwings glimmer with reflected light rays, are seen as incarnations of evil spirits by the Tao tribesfolk of the island. It so happens that the caterpillars of the Magellan birdwing feed on Dutchman's pipes (Aristolochia spp.), which mostly grow around the burial grounds of the Tao people. As adults, the butterflies seek out sea mangoes, which also grow near Tao graveyards, as a source of nectar. Since they are associated with the dead both as larvae and adults, they are considered inauspicious.

Since butterflies stand for good fortune, traditional architecture often featured butterfly motifs. Shown here are butterfly-shaped lattice windows at the Lin Family Gardens in Banqiao.

Butterflies, graceful and fragile, flitting to and fro, are like a fanciful riddle. A peculiar trait of butterflies is the way they vary in appearance depending on setting, season, sex, geography, and even individual variations. For instance, the Danaid eggfly (Hypolimnas misippus) displays extreme sexual dimorphism: the male's wings are an unremarkable purplish black, while the female's are bright orange rimmed with black and white spots. Non-poisonous, she mimics the poisonous common tiger (Danaus genutia) with remarkable accuracy, warning others to stay away!

The male Danaid eggfly (Hypolimnas misippus) is purplish black, while the female mimics the poisonous common tiger (Danaus genutia), with orange wings, to fool predators. This is a clear example of sexual dimorphism in butterflies.

Since butterflies stand for good fortune, traditional architecture often featured butterfly motifs. Shown here are butterfly-shaped lattice windows at the Lin Family Gardens in Banqiao.