Butterfly-Designs Since 1992
Online Since 1999

A little bit about us and our frames and why ours are the best built conservation insect displays that you can get!

We have been hand making our museum quality framed butterfly and insect displays for over 25 years. Each and every one of our framed displays are meticulously handcrafted from scratch with the highest attention to detail. All of our handmade wood shadow box frames are built by us one at a time to fit each and every insect for the perfect fit. We take the extra time to make sure the wood we use is superior quality and it is laboriously planed and hand sand the wood to perfection. We also make sure that the finished product is free from scrapes, gouges, knots and imperfections and that the corners come together perfectly. This highest quality can only be achieved from hand making the displays one at a time from start to finish. While most butterfly displays sold today use imported or mass-produced frames although they may be fine for grandmas’ photos, however these lower quality frames typically look unsightly and don’t offer the quality or type of protection necessary for insect and taxidermy displays.

The way that we build our handmade displays is truly a lost art and not many taxidermy display makers do it anymore or at least they typically do not do it well. The museum quality glass that we use in our displays is built into our frames as they are assembled for the protection of your insects. Loose glass or glass pinned in the front of a frame will not be secure enough to form the seal necessary prevent damage to your insects. Once again, this is why we hand make our own true archival shadow box displays.  Additionally, we only use 99% UV Blocking glass inside of our frames so your butterflies and insects will never fade over time. Without using this glass your insects would fade quickly even those kept out of direct sunlight. Insects mounted into frames that don’t have 99% UV blocking glass will fade with a few months and would have to be kept in complete darkness to avoid fading. If you ever go into most museums, you may see faded insects simply because they didn’t use 99% UV blocking glass to build their displays. Always check to make sure that that the glass is 99% UV blocking in your displays. Many displays are touted by sellers as UV blocking glass but there are many different types of UV blocking glass with strengths ranging from near zero all the way up to 99%. Anything less than 99% UV blocking glass will cause your beautiful butterflies, insects and taxidermy to fade quickly. Finally, the back of each and every frame is sealed with a kraft paper coating. This too is very important to prevent outside pest or dust from getting into your display. This is the finale and last critical detail of any professional insect display.

If you own a retail store and you would like to consider adding our taxidermy displays to your inventory, we welcome wholesale inquiries. You can find our wholesale website here: www.wholesaleinsects.com