"Hello my name is Marty Highton and I live in San Diego. I'm a butterfly artist. The butterfly wings I use in my creations are from butterflies that have lived their full life cycle, which is 2-4 weeks. The butterflies are not taken from the wild but are raised on butterfly preserves or farms in South America. A butterfly preserve or farm is a big netted enclosure where nectar-bearing flowers and trees are grown for the butterflies' food. Birds aren't able to peck at the butterflies' wings so they're usually perfect."