Museum director Ian Griffin said because of the Philippines lockdown, the museum had yet to receive butterfly pupae from the suppliers of the most common butterflies seen at the museum.
Alternative supplies had been coming from other established suppliers in Costa Rica.
Covid-19 had been "financially devastating" for the butterfly farming communities in the Philippines as almost every butterfly house in the world had closed its doors to the public, eliminating their main source of income, Dr Griffin said in a report to yesterday’s Otago Museum Trust Board meeting.
To help alleviate this strain and to ensure the museum’s pupae suppliers could survive the lockdown, the museum had provided a loan equal to half its average pupae purchase.
This would be repaid through a 10% discount on future shipments, which were expected to resume late this month.
