Try Albur's Butterfly Garden , for a change

You don't have to be a nature lover or a certified collector to appreciate and be thrilled with Albur's Butterfly Garden. Considered the latest addition to the array of attractions in the Albur Tourist Center , The Butterfly Garden, is a real sanctuary that breeds, raises and eventually releases butterflies into the wilds. Complimenting this attraction is a bird sanctuary and an animal habitat for flying lemures.

The Butterfly Garden is a brainchild of Albur Mayor Efren Tungol who envisioned to make the butterfly culture as a major cottage industry in the town. Assisted by the Kahugpongan sa mga Alburanong Kababayen-an, an NGO that manages the Albur Tourist Center , Mayor Tungol has a grand plan for his brainchild. The women's organization is headed by the mayor's wife Ruth.

The bottom line of his butterfly culture project is the butterfly dispersal program where every household is given at least three species for propagation. Once the dispersal program reaches to its successful levels, Mayor Tungol will explore the export market where it is believed to be a lucrative business enterprise. A typical example of a successful butterfly dispersal project is found in Marinduque where it has become a virtual cottage industry.

The Albur experience is supervised by a certified butterfly breeder named Victor Solon. Aside from raising more than 30 different species in the Albur dome, Solon also breeds six different species honored and named after him. They are Paruparu Cebuencis Soloni, Eutalia Luisada Soloni, Charaxes Solon Lampedo, Acrophtalimia Soloni, Leptosia Nena Monelis Soloni and Arhopala Alesia Soloni.

Some other facts about butterflies:

*These kind of creatures lay their eggs in the so-called hosts plants. *It will take three to seven days for the eggs to become a larvae and then caterpillar. The Albur Center is a shocase of Albur's *Seven to 14 days for the larvae to become a pupa. *Fourteen to 22 days for pupa tobecome a butterfly. *The butterflies' adult life is from 45 to 60 days. *After this period, the butterfly will its natural death and the breeding cycle begins anew.

ALBUR TOURIST CENTER

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