The yellow and black striped caterpillar was interesting, but not too pretty as it clung to a plant in Ralph Petrellese’s greenhouse.
But soon, once the caterpillar passes through the pupa stage, it will be transformed into a monarch butterfly, complete with stained glass wings of orange and brown.
Petrellese, 52, who also owns the Brick Flower Market next to the greenhouse on Mantoloking Road, open his nonprofit Butterfly Charities about three months ago.
For a $10 donation, visitors can spend all the time they want gazing at monarchs, morning cloaks, cabbage whites and a variety of other butterflies as they flutter from one plant to another in the greenhouse, sucking the nectar out of flowers or feasting on apple slices Petrellese and his wife Nancy put out for them.
The Butterfly Charities greenhouse is a true sanctuary for the delicate insects, which only live between two to four weeks after they emerge as butterflies.
“There’s no predators, no reptiles,” Petrellese said. “They don’t have to worry about it in there. There’s plenty of fruit and plenty of flowers.”
Butterflies lead an often precarious life, eaten by ants, birds, and spiders. But nature takes care of them at times. Monarchs only lay their eggs on milkweed, which is poisonous to birds and reptiles. The morning cloaks, with their black wings edged with gold, blend in well with the environment, he said.
So far, the couple has averaged about 100 visitors a week. All of the proceeds go to various charities, except for the money Petrellese has to spend to replace the butterfly population.
He has three or four dozen flown in from a breeder in Florida each week, to replace the butterflies that have died.
“I have 50 coming in tomorrow,” he said in a recent interview at the greenhouse. “We only put out butterflies that are indigenous to New Jersey.”
The latest $1,000 donation was slated to go to Camp Quality, a sleep-away camp in Blairstown for children with cancer.
Petrellese is looking for sponsors for the fledgling charity.
“You can be a sponsor with $100 or $1,000,” he said.
Each sponsor will have one vote each time a charity is selected.
“Once we have sponsors, the concept is the sponsors will pay for the expenses like the live butterflies,” he said.
The greenhouse exhibit will close in October, when the flower supply begins to dwindle, Petrellese said.
“Once you get to October, we don’t have too many blooming,” he said.
The Butterfly Charities is also available for weddings in a small court or butterfly release memorial services. The cost is included in the $10 donation, he said.
For more information on becoming a sponsor or visiting the Butterfly Charities, go the website at www.thebutterflycharities. com, or call Petrellese at 732-477-6765. The Brick Flower Market and the greenhouse are located at 570 Mantoloking Road.