As a child, Xiong Fei loved chasing butterflies for fun. Never did he imagine that raising these delicate insects would one day become his livelihood.

The 35-year-old veteran, who once worked in an electronics factory in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, has become known as the "King of Butterflies" in China's butterfly farming industry — a title honoring his role in managing millions of butterflies.

Xiong's butterfly farm, located in his home village of Jiangcun in Hulu township, Leshan, Sichuan province, consists of over 50 breeding sheds covering a total area of 5.3 hectares.

Housing more than 20 butterfly species with an annual output capacity of up to 5 million butterflies, it is said to be the largest of its kind in China.

Xiong sells over a million butterflies each year, with a net profit of about one million yuan ($140,000). Sixty to 70 percent of his sales are Kallima inachus, commonly known as the "deadleaf butterfly", which account for over 90 percent of the national market share.

The dense forests in Jiangcun, a remote mountain village with an average altitude of about 1,000 meters, provide an ideal habitat for the butterfly, which is named for its striking resemblance to a withered leaf.

In the 1990s, merchants from Fujian province frequently came to purchase dead-leaf butterflies for specimens. A single butterfly could sell for up to 100 yuan, equivalent to half a month's salary for an ordinary worker at that time.

"Back then, almost every household in our village made a living by catching butterflies. My childhood was spent catching them too," Xiong recalled.

One day, a friend of Xiong's father from Leshan's agricultural science institute came to Jiangcun to conduct research on the deadleaf butterfly.

He asked the family to help catch butterflies and record their living habits.

During this process, Xiong's father gained experience in butterfly breeding and eventually began raising them for sale.

"Wild dead-leaf butterflies feed on nectar, but on the farm, we feed them a mixture of pollen and honey diluted with water," Xiong said. "They also like overripe and fermented fruit."

The most challenging part of raising butterflies, Xiong said, is protecting them throughout their entire life cycle — egg, larva, pupa and adult — ensuring they are not eaten by predators such as parasitic wasps, ants, spiders and mantises, or killed by diseases.

The business was never smooth sailing. In early 2008, while Xiong was serving in the military, a severe snowstorm destroyed the breeding sheds, killing all 6,000 butterflies inside.

"My father rebuilt the sheds and started over with just nine butterflies caught from the wild," Xiong recalled. "Today, all the dead-leaf butterflies on our farm are their descendants."

From 2009 onward, the family business suffered another setback due to falling demand after the global financial crisis and a saturated specimen market.

"Just as our butterfly farm was on the brink of collapse, the internet threw us a lifeline," Xiong said.

In 2012, inspired by the emerging online shopping trend, Xiong began searching for clients and selling butterflies online in his spare time.

To his astonishment, a new client placed a single order for 100,000 dead-leaf butterflies. It was then that he realized the enormous business potential in the field.

The following year, Xiong quit his job and returned home, officially taking over the butterfly farm from his father. Thanks to online sales, the farm earned a record net income of 175,000 yuan within one year — far more than he could make in a factory.

Benefiting from China's rapidly developing logistics network, Xiong's business quickly expanded across the whole country. Today, his farm offers not only specimens but also live butterflies, pupae, and host plants for butterflies.

"Live butterflies are purchased by scenic parks, botanical gardens, museums and scientific research institutes," Xiong said.

"There is even a growing trend of releasing butterflies at weddings."

Xiong has also developed cooperative relationships with research teams, including one from Peking University's School of Life Sciences, using his expertise to help researchers artificially breed rare butterfly species.

Despite the title "King of Butterflies", Xiong said he doesn't feel a strong sense of achievement.

"The industry is still niche and has now reached a bottleneck," he noted. In response, he has been making some new attempts.

For the past two years, Xiong has been participating in biodiversity promotion programs launched by environmental protection bureaus in Zhejiang province, to give lectures to students in cities including Wenzhou and Ningbo.

Looking ahead, Xiong said he plans to integrate butterfly farming with tourism, popular science education, and study tours, allowing more people to learn about and appreciate these beautiful creatures.

pengchao@chinadaily.com.cn