In a lush tropical garden, a cascading waterfall bubbles into a pool as an array of vibrantly - colored creatures gracefully floats by. Some are splashed with bright red and yellow an delicate black wings. Others flash deep neon-blue as they flutter and dive in a ballet of color. Still others resemble owls with large black eyes on each wings. The Butterfly Farm, located on four acres in Alajuela Province, started as a unique non-traditional export company to raise and export butterflies to Europe. But this past November, owners Joris Brinckerhoff and Maria Sabido opened their private paradise to the public. A 700-sq. meter visitors center, an exotic netted garden, is home to over 500 butterflies, 50 different tropical plants and a picturesque waterfall. The center now serves two purposes: as the captives-bred butterflies dance around to the delight of spectators, they are also reproducing for export. Brinckerhoff, 32 a native of Exeter, New Hampshire, got the idea for the Butterfly Farm seven years ago, when he was working in the Atlantic-slope town of Cervantes as a Peace Corps volunteer. "I didn't know the first thing about butterflies," he admitted. "I had studied economics and political science at the University of New Hampshire before coming to Costa Rica. One day I was hitchhiking, and the man who picked me up started telling me about his hobby of breeding butterflies. He told me butterflies were exported to Europe from Southeast Asia for exhibition. "He said with 900 identified species of butterflies in Costa Rica -- not including those that haven`t been named -a business could be started here. So I decided to take my savings and start a business exporting butterflies". Brinckerhoff spent the next year and a half researching his butterfly enterprise. He audited a class in entomology at the University of Costa Rica and built a small insectarium in his back yard. In 1985, just when he was about to start his business, Brinckerhoff met Maria Sabido on a park bench at the Plaza de la Cultura. Sabido, 29, just happened to be in the country for three months researching her master`s thesis for American University in Washington, D.C. on non-traditional exports. "It was really amazing" laughed Sabido, a native of Portugal who moved to the U.S. when she was 10. "I was working at the Ministry of Economic and Social Planning researching my thesis, and I end up meeting and marrying this guy who was doing some strange stuff to put my research into practice". Just three weeks before she was due to return to the U.S., she called her parents and told them she wasn't coming home and that she was going to marry a butterfly farmer. Today, the couple lives with their eight-month-old daughter Katrina at the Butterfly Farm, exporting tens of thousands of butterflies to Europe each year. Sabido said they considered many factors when choosing the location of the farm. "Because butterflies get their energy from the sun we needed a warm climate" she explained. "Since we ship the butterflies by air freight, we also needed a location near the airport and close to San Jose, where each shipment must be registered with an export license by the Central Bank". Butterflies are shipped much like ornamental plants, in a temperature controlled environment in the chrysalis or pupa stage, with an average 40 to 100 cocoons in each box, depending on the species. By the time they are delivered to their destinations, the chrysalis is ready to shed its cocoon and spread its new wings as a butterfly. Because butterflies have a lifespan of only three weeks to a month, depending on the species, frequent shipments must be sent to replenish the exhibits. Brinckerhoff and Sabido ship their colorful cargo to a distributor in London, who then sells the butterflies to exhibits all over Europe. Last year, the couple exported 30,000 butterflies. According to Brinckerhoff, the first European butterfly exhibit opened in 1977; there are close to 80 throughout Europe today. The butterflies are housed in large glass structures for visitors to enjoy a sight they normally wouldn't see in their northern climate. Because of the cold northern European winters, Brinckerhoff said the export business slows down considerably in December and January, when heating costs prevent most exhibits from opening. The farm takes advantage of the slow time for planting and repairs, and exports a few butterflies for distribution to warmer European climates. Much work is required before each shipment is made. It all begins when a female butterfly lays her eggs -- up to 100 -- on a leaf inside the Butterfly Farm`s visitors' center. After the eggs are laid, employees collect them and move them to the main production facility, where in about four days, they hatch into larvae, or caterpillars. At this stage, Brinckerhoff calls the caterpillars "eating machines" because their sole purpose for the next month or so is to gobble leaves. Throughout its lifetime, each butterfly will feed only on one specific plant, and the female will lay her eggs only on the plant she feeds on. To maintain 60 different butterfly species, the visitors' center contains over 50 different tropical plants. While the caterpillar feeds on the leaves of the plant, adult butterflies feed on the flower nectar, rotting fruit and animal dung, and suck minerals out of water. During the dry season, the visitors' center is sprayed with water, keeping the host plants alive and encouraging the butterflies to breed. Housing hundreds of butterflies is a tricky business, said Sabido. "We constantly fight nature in terms of predators" she explained. "Because our enclosed breeding environment raises the survival rate from two percent to almost 90 percent, the concentration of butterflies in captivity is out of balance with nature. Therefore we have an abundance of insects who come in to eat the butterflies". Ants and wasps show up to feed on the eggs and larvae, while spiders spin webs to trap the adult butterflies. Sabido protects the butterflies in each stage-- as eggs, larvae and adults-- in enclosed structures. The caterpillars of each species assume different forms to blend in with the environment and stymie predators. Some look like sticks, while the Caligo caterpillar resembles a snake head that moves slightly when touched, giving the message to birds or other predators that they might get bitten if they come any closer. After the caterpillar turns into a butterfly, the spectacular colors that enchant and delight visitors become its next means of protection. The Caligo butterfly looks an owl when held upside down. Two giant black dots on either wing fool birds into thinking they are eyes. The colors of other butterflies, such as the bright white stripes against the black wings of the zebra butterfly, or stripes of bright yellow and red, tells birds that the butterfly tastes bad and is toxic. Sabido said the butterflies in this group, the Heliconids, feed on plants that become toxic in their bodies. The toxins don't affect the butterfly but they leave a bad taste in the bird's mouth, so birds quickly learn not to feed on members of the brightly-colored family. Other butterflies mimic the Heliconids' colors, but aren't toxic. Some butterflies use their colors as camouflage. The yellow piered butterfly blends in with yellowing leaves and remains unnoticed by predators. The giant neon-blue Morpho will sit quietly, a nondescript brown when its wings are closed. When a predator gets too close, the Morpho will fly into the sun, flashing its beautiful wings and startling its foe. All the butterflies at the farm were collected within the area. Throughout the year, Brinckerhoff and Sabido collect butterflies, using a huge net, to breed. But they also release butterflies into the natural environment to replenish those they take. "We have a completely symbolic relationship with the environment", stressed Brinckerhoff. "There's absolutely zero loss to nature. By far man has been the most destructive force against Costa Rica's abundance of butterflies. Not by collecting them, but by destroying their natural habitat by cutting down the forest". "Costa Rica's famous blue Morpho, which is supposed to be one of the top nine most beautiful butterflies in the world, used to be a backyard species", added Sabido. Now it is found only in reserves. For those interested in seeing Costa Rica's spectacular butterflies up close, the Butterfly Farm is open to guests seven days a week... ..The farm is located 500 meters east of Hacienda Los Reyes in La Guacima in Alajuela. The telephone number is 438-0400.

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