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Frequently Asked Questions CLICK HERE for detailed information about our acrylic frames & our butterflies. Feel free to contact us with ANY questions not answered below. Questions: 1.  How does collecting butterflies save the rainforest? Am I endangering butterflies by collecting them? 2.  How long will it take to ship my item? Do you offer express shipping? What are the normal shipping rates? Can I track my package? What if the shipment arrives damaged? 3.  What credit cards do you accept? Can I pay by check or money order? Can I order by phone? Can I order via Paypal? 4.  What's your return policy? 5.  Can I have my item gift wrapped and sent directly to someone else? 6.  Do you do custom orders? 7.  How long will the butterfly art last? 8.  My credit card is being denied by the shopping cart system? 9.  How do I clean my acrylic cases? 10.  What's the difference between a moth and a butterfly? 11.  Are there any permits required to buy butterflies? Do you ship outside the U.S.? 12.  Do you have a local store where I can see your products in person? 13.  Why do acrylic displays cost more than regular framed butterflies? 14.  I have butterflies I'd like to have framed, could you frame them for me? 15.  Can I buy your butterflies without them being framed? 16.  Can you send me a catalog in the mail? 17.  Can I use your butterfly pictures for...? 18.  Why are antennas & some of the body removed on certain butterflies? 19.  Does Butterfly Utopia actually make these displays or does someone else? 20.  23x28 is the largest case size I see, do you make acrylic frames that are larger than that? 21.  Why am I asking so many questions? 1.   How does collecting butterflies save the rainforest? Am I endangering butterflies by collecting them? All of our butterflies have been inspected and cleared by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service upon being imported into the U.S. There are framed butterfly sellers who illegally import and export specimens that haven't been cleared with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, don't buy from them!  U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is a completely separate entity from "customs" and they require that ALL organisms, dead or alive, be cleared before entering or leaving the U.S. Click here for more info on permits and such. Our butterflies come from butterfly farms & ranching projects from all over the world (mainly South America, Africa and South East Asia). These farms provide the natives of the countries with an excellent source of income and prevent them from destroying the rainforest to clear land for cattle raising, logging etc. Eggs laid on leaves in the wild rainforests are collected and hatched in the farms. In the wild, only a very small percentage (about 5%) of butterfly eggs survive to adulthood. Butterfly farms have much higher survival rates, approximately 80%. Habitat protection is also important because butterfly caterpillars will only eat certain plants from their habitat, so these plants are also collected. Most of the less colorful female butterflies hatched on farms are released into the wild to lay more eggs in a rainforest that would have been destroyed years ago if not for the protection of the farms. So collecting butterflies actually saves butterflies & the rainforest! For example, the island of Madagascar (off the coast of Africa) is a unique home to many magnificent species including the huge Comet moth and popular Sunset Moth. Butterfly exporting is a valuable commodity to Madagascar. Without that income, butterfly habitats could possibly be forever destroyed to make room for cattle raising, buildings etc. If you wipe out that habitat hundreds of butterfly species will become extinct overnight. So the more Madagascar native butterflies purchased, the more valuable their habitat becomes. None of our butterflies are endangered or illegal to own. Butterflies can be "rare" to collectors but not endangered. Some tropical butterflies only come from one small area and can only be obtained from a single butterfly farm, while others are available from numerous farms. Unless noted otherwise, all of the butterflies on our site are males. Here's a direct quote from an email we recently received: "I work for a small NGO in Ecuador, Fundacion NYTUA. We are currently investigating the possibility of beginning small butterfly ranching operations in some of the local villages as an alternative source of income, hopefully preventing the current reliance on income from felling areas of forest." ProNaturalezas butterfly conservation program - This organization seeks to prevent habitat destruction in Peru (a country with 3700 species of butterflies) by promoting the farming and ranching of butterflies. Lots of good info at this site. Volunteers & donations needed! Some more articles on butterfly farming: New Agriculturist Online - "Through the success of these agencies, villagers have come to realize the importance of the forest as habitat for the insects they collect and as a source of income. Without the increasing export trade in insects, villagers would clear the forests in order to plant cash crops." ON THE WINGS OF HOPE - "In Kenya, butterflies are saving a unique coastal forest and the impoverished people who live there...For Samson and 550 other butterfly farmers in the area, these lucrative winged creatures now provide a reason to protect, rather than destroy, Arabuko-Sokoke. Butterflies have become the guardians of the forest." Bio Bulletins - 11 page article, use the map at the top of the page for more butterfly farming articles. Pacific News Save Monarch Butterfly Habitat - The Rainforest Site will preserve 6870.0 sq. ft. of land for each Save Monarch Butterfly Habitat Kit purchased. Click the button above to visit TheRainforestSite.com. At the site, hit the same "Save our Rainforests, Click here" button on their page and advertisers will donate money on your behalf to help save the rainforest! 2. How long will it take to ship my item? Do you offer express shipping? What are the normal shipping rates? Can I track my package? Prebuilt: Ready To Ship! items are prebuilt and ship out within 24 business hours, CLICK HERE for important info about "ready to ship" items. Ships via UPS Ground, USPS Priority Mail, or expedited shipping (see link). Ready For Us To Build items are items that we have the butterflies for but aren't prebuilt so we need to build them first. That can take as little as one day to as much as a few weeks, you can contact us for a better estimate by letting us know which display you want. Ships via UPS Ground or USPS Priority Mail. Expedited shipping is possible too, once the display is ready. Occasionally "Ready For Us To Build" items might take more than a few weeks as sometimes demand can be overwhelming, feel free to contact us to question your order status. Often times Ready to Build items are in fact Ready To Ship, as it's not worth it to update the website if we only have 1 or 2 of a particular item prebuilt. Again, feel free to contact us to see if your desired item(s) can ship out quickly. Butterfly Jewelry items - Usually ship out within 1 week. Ships separately from all other items via USPS. Butterfly Wing Art - Usually ships out within 1-2 business days after an order is placed. Framed items ships via UPS Ground, unframed usually ship USPS. Might ship with acrylic framed butterflies so ordering with a "Ready For Us To Build" item could delay shipment. Once an item ships, UPS Ground takes 1-5 business days to deliver your item, the closer you live to NY the quicker it will get to you. USPS usually takes 1-3 days (including Saturdays) to deliver your item. Expedited shipping is available if you contact us directly. Tracking: Click here to check your order status (if it hasn't shipped yet the Status will read "Ordered"). If already shipped, it will tell you the date your order shipped and provide your UPS tracking number (or say priority mail) which you can track at UPS.com. You should also receive an email from UPS or USPS the day your order ships with tracking info (butterfly jewelery & garden stake orders won't recieve notification but you can still check your order status). Shipping Fees: Shipping & handling costs are a flat fee of $7.50, no matter how many items you order (Hawaii and Alaska residents have to pay actual shipping fees, contact us for an estimate if you want, small orders like one or two riker mounts probably won't cost extra, larger orders might cost $5 - $10 more.). You may also choose the "Regular w/ signiture" for an extra $2 (total of $9.50) which requires a signiture to deliver the package. Items that ship via USPS can also require signiture confimation. Requiring a signiture will protect you from someone swiping your package off your doorstep (probably a very rare occurence, especially depending on your neighborhood), however it will require someone to be there to sign for the package which can be a pain and might delay actual delivery. Once a package is delivered to your doorstep it's out of our hands so pay the extra $2 bucks if you feel that theft might be an issue and signing for the package isn't a problem. Sales Tax is charged to NY shipping addresses only, as we are located in NY. What if the shipment arrives damaged? We use an enormous amount of packing peanuts and bubble wrap combined with roomy boxes so damage during shipment is extremely rare. If your package does arrive damaged, contact us immediately and we will replace the item for no additional charge. We pay for your shipping expenses if your package arrives damaged and needs to be returned to us. 3. What credit cards do you accept? We accept VISA, Mastercard & AMEX. 3a.   Can I pay by check or money order? If you'd like to pay by check or money order, simply add items to your shopping cart and checkout when done. During the checkout process, choose the pay by "check/money order" option. Complete your order, then print out your email confirmation and mail it to the address provided. Make the check or money order out to ButterflyUtopia.com. Ordering through the online shopping system before sending us your check will allow us to reserve for you any items of limited availability or one of a kind status. It will also allow you check if your order has shipped and track your package. If for some reason you don't want to use the online shopping cart system you can fill out and print out this form to mail to us, just remember to contact us first if ordering any items of limited availability. 3b. Can I order by phone? Yes, you can pay by credit card over the phone, just give us a call between our business hours. Please note though that your info. will be entered into the Verisign online processing system so it will not avoid the internet. 3c. Can I order via Paypal? Yes! Simply add items to your shopping cart and checkout when done. During the checkout process, choose the pay by "paypal" option. Make sure you complete the paypal payment process, once you finish your order you should see the payment in your paypal account. 4.   What's your return policy? If you are unhappy with your product or it arrives damaged you may return it within 20 days for a full refund or exchange. Please contact us before returning a product to let us know what the problem was. If you think you might have to return the item, save all of the packing material as the package should be returned in the same manner it was shipped. If an item is damaged during the return shipment due to poor protection then we can't accept it, if you package it the way it came it should be fine. If you accidently threw out the packing materials you can bring the display to a local UPS store and have them carefully package it for you. Extensions to the refund policy period will be granted from Oct. 1st until Dec. 31st. for early holiday shoppers. For example, if you buy an item for a Christmas gift after Oct. 1st, open it upon arrival to make sure it meets your approval. If it meets your approval, wrap it back up in the protective bubble wrap for safe keeping and keep the shipping & packing materials. If the recipient doesn't like it you may then exchange or return the item, contact us first though. 4a. What about returning custom orders? We've never had anyone return a custom order, however we feel it would be a good idea to outline our return policy for custom orders. If a custom order arrives damaged it will be replaced for no additional charge. If you get "buyer's remorse" we can still accept the product for return however we usually will not be able to refund you the full amount, we might only be able to refund a % of the total price. Selling exclusively on the internet means that in order for us to resell a custom order we have to go through the trouble of taking pictures of the display and placing it on the website which can be quite time consuming. Plus since it's custom there's the potential that it might not be something that other customers would be interested in and we might have to sell it at a discount. We're also very tight on space here so there's a storage issue. Again, we've created hundreds of custom orders and never had a return so it's very unlikely that there would be a problem. For complex custom orders we usually send digital photos of the display before gluing the butterflies so you can approve of the layout or request that it be tweaked to your desire. 5.   Can I have my item gift wrapped and sent directly to someone else? We don't currently gift wrap, however the butterflies are surrounded by layers of bubble wrap so they still get to "unwrap" the gift. If you want us to send a gift directly to someone you can enter an additional shipping address when you checkout. After completing your order, feel free to email us a personal message to the recipient that we will include with your order. We never include the invoice when the "ship to" name doesn't match the billing name and the only invoice you will receive is the one you receive via email when you place your order. 6.   Do you do custom orders? Yes, just contact us with your inquiry. We can build a display with any combination of butterflies that you desire. We can also place special orders for you if you have a specific sized case in mind or if you are looking for a butterfly that isn't on the site. There are products on the site like the CUSTOM 9x12 - 5 Butterflies that allow you to custom build your own display without contacting us, for more complex designs you can simply email or call us. For complex custom orders we usually send digital photos of the display before gluing the butterflies so you can approve of the layout or request that it be tweaked to your desire. We can also incorporate other items into our 3D displays, such as a business card or logo for corporate gifts. 7.   How long will the butterfly art last? Longer than you. If cared for properly, your butterflies can last for hundreds of years. Our acrylic cases are sealed airtight providing the best preservation environment and all butterflies are reinforced to greatly increase durablity. Our Riker framed displays aren't airtight but will still last a very long time. Keep your displays out of direct sunlight though, as their colors may fade. And of course, be sure not to ever drop your displays, handle them with great care. 8.   My credit card is being denied by the shopping cart system? The most common problem is that the billing address you're entering in doesn't match the credit card company's records. Be sure to enter the billing info that matches your credit card company's records and then use a different address for shipping if necessary. Nothing is ever mailed to your billing address, the invoice is emailed to you and included with the shipment (unless the shipping name is different, then we assume it's a gift). If you're still having problems please contact us, sometimes computer problems on your end can prevent proper approval. We also accept paypal, checks and money orders, see question 3 for more info. 9.   How do I clean my acrylic cases? Mild soap and warm water with a soft cloth (no paper towels) works just fine, or you can purchase a product designed for cleaning acrylic such as Novus or Brillianize. Do NOT use alcohol or ammonia based glass cleaning products like Windex, regular use will ruin the cases. ButterflyUtopia.com is not responsible for damage done to the acrylic cases by improper cleaning. 10.   What's the difference between a moth and a butterfly? Although from the same insect family (Lepidoptera), there are a few differences. Butterflies are generally more colorful than moths and have long, thin antennas while moths have short, feathery antennas. Butterflies usually fly by day, while moths are generally seen at nighttime. A butterfly caterpillar produces a shiny chrysalis that hangs, while a moth caterpillar produces a silky cocoon found on the ground. Butterflies rest with their wings closed, moths with their wings open. 11.   Are there any permits required to buy butterflies? Do you ship outside the U.S.? If you live in the United States you can freely purchase butterflies from us with no need to own a permit or license. To import or export butterflies (dead or alive) into or out of the United States you must have a U.S. Fish & Wildlife License AND you must declare each package and pay a fairly substantional fee for each package declaration. Be sure that you don't purchase any butterflies from companies or websites residing outside the U.S. without a license, as your package may be confiscated and you may be fined. If purchasing from a company within the U.S., make sure they imported their specimens legally via U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (not customs). Many U.S. sellers illegally import their butterflies into the U.S. without clearance from U.S. Fish and Wildlife. We currently don't have a permit so can't ship outside of the U.S. however we've been considering renewing our permit. If you live outside of the U.S. and are interested in placing an order please contact us, however it will only be worth purchasing from us if you're interested in placing a large order as an additional inspection and processing fee of approximately $100 dollars must be added to your order. If you have friends interested in purchasing you can place a single group order to spread out the additional fees. 12.   Do you have a local store where I can see your products in person? For the most part we only sell online. We do have a workspace (not a store or a showroom) in Williamsburg, Brooklyn (1 subway stop from Manhattan and right off the BQE) that we work and ship from and we do have some displays in stock. If you're very interested in our products an appointment can be made to visit our office in person. 13.   Why do acrylic displays cost more than regular framed butterflies? Acrylic displays cost more than traditional framed butterflies because they take us approximately 6-10 times longer to complete than regular framed displays. We custom order all of our acrylic frames and they require an extensive amount of cleaning, preparation, sealing etc. Once sealed they can't be opened so we have to make sure we get it right! Balancing and perfectly angling the butterflies on thin rods is very time consuming as well, particularly in the large cases in which long rods are used or tight displays like the Rainbow Flight in which the fragile butterflies are "dangerously" close together. Also note that the larger cases are made of a thicker (to prevent bending) and therefore heavier and more expensive acrylic and are deeper than the smaller frames. We also require an enormous amount of shipping supplies to insure that these fragile cases are not damaged during shipment, our flat shipping fee is well below our actual costs for the larger cases. There are simply just many more steps & costs involved, which is why butterflies are rarely displayed in acrylic cases even though it's the best way to display them. In the end all the additional work is worth it, there's no comparison to an acrylic framed butterfly display. 14.   I have butterflies I'd like to have framed, could you frame them for me? If you send us the butterflies (email us first) we can mount the butterflies for you. However, it's important to understand that building these cases is a little risky to the butterflies and there exists the small possibility that one or more butterflies may be damaged. 15.   Can I buy your butterflies without them being framed? Yes, we have riker mounts available which are can be easily opened to extract the butterfly. You can buy them individually mounted, or contact us requesting they be combined into as few riker mounts as possible this way we can give you a discount off the individual frame price. Also note that we usually sell butterflies with minor damage in riker mounts on the unique items page. If you're a photographer and have the ability to touch up minor problems (such as a few scratches or spots) than most of the butterflies featured in those riker mounts would be ideal for your work at a greatly discounted price. 16.   Can you send me a catalog in the mail? Sorry, we currently do not have a mail order catalog. If you have limited access to the internet (like work only) you might want to try your local library on the weekend, our site is open 24/7! 17.  Can I use your butterfly pictures for...? Please contact us if you want to use our pictures. Non-commercial usage would be free however we would need to approve usage and would usually request credit and a link back to ButterflyUtopia.com if used on a website. We might also have larger, higher quality versions of photos on this website and can take raw photos of our butterflies for your use such as the photo below (of course it wouldn't have "ButterflyUtopia.com" over the image. Sample Raw Photo 18.   Why are antennas & some of the body removed on certain butterflies? All antennas are removed before placing them in the acrylic cases. Antennas are fragile and can easily break off. Since the acrylic cases are sealed shut it is best to remove them prior to placing them in the cases. With Morpho butterflies, the lower portion of the body is removed because it leaks out toxic oils that damage the wings. 19.   Does Butterfly Utopia actually make these displays or does someone else? Our Butterfly Utopia artists design & frame all of the acrylic, riker mount, and table top butterfly displays. The butterfly wing art and butterfly jewelry are made by other artists. If you contact us you can speak directly to our artists! 20.  23x28 is the largest case size I see, do you make acrylic frames that are larger than that? Not really. The acrylic cases are very fragile and we have them shipped to us and then us to you. The bigger the case, the more likely it is to be damaged and it's far more expensive to ship oversized items. Plus, really big cases require the acrylic to be thicker to prevent bending, which makes the frame very heavy and very dangerous to the fragile butterflies inside. Handling this large heavy frame becomes more difficult and if just one butterfly breaks the display is ruined. Normally we use 18x28 cases and for large displays we place these clear cases together to create bigger displays. We feel comfortable with this size and haven't had problems. Significantly larger frames would be just too risky, unless the display was framed on location and didn't require shipping and handling. 21.   Why am I asking so many questions? Don't know, go buy some butterflies already! If you have ANY more questions, feel free to contact us. Gallery Guide: Single Framed Real Butterflies Pages 1 2 3 4 Multiple Framed Real Butterflies Pages 5 6 7 8 Bargain Framed Real Butterflies Page 9 Butterfly Wing Art Page 10 Butterfly Jewelry Page 11 Misc. Butterfly Items Page 12 Join Our Mailing List! Email: Receive exclusive coupon codes and be the first to know about new items & back in stock butterflies! Copyright © 2001-2008 ButterflyUtopia.com. All Rights Reserved.