Insect Lore

Shafter, United States

2.1

20 reviews

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Telephone:
+1 800-548-3284
Website:
www.insectlore.com
Address:
132 S Beech Ave, Shafter, CA, 93263
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Today –
Local time (Shafter) 3:42 PM Thursday, June 12, 2025

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Description

Specialties

Since 1969, Insect Lore has provided innovative products that make science more approachable and relatable to young learners.

Our signature line of live butterfly kits includes the Live Butterfly Garden, Live Butterfly Pavilion, Giant Butterfly Garden and Live Butterfly Pavilion School Kit. These kits enable children to experience the incredible miracle of metamorphosis up close in their own home or classroom. In addition to our beloved butterfly kits, our products include ladybug, ant, praying mantis, silkworm and frog life cycle kits, as well as bug catchers, keepers, viewers and other exciting items for insect lovers.

We invite you to explore these educational live kits and products that encourage early discovery and hands-​on learning.

Dear Customers — Please note that the Bugseum is closed permanently.

History

Established in 1969.

Insect Lore was founded in California’s San Joaquin Valley by Carlos White, an entomologist working with insects in the agricultural industry. Carlos dreamed of developing an educational kit that would allow children of all ages to witness the metamorphosis of real, live butterflies. Drawing upon his personal experience raising insects and preparing their artificial diets, Mr. White chose the Painted Lady butterfly as the ideal candidate.

After four years of trial and error, Carlos discovered the dietary formula for Painted Lady caterpillars in 1969. Once the Painted Lady Butterfly formula was created, Insect Lore’s «Butterflies by Mail» business model launched to resounding success. Since then, our Live Butterfly Kits have brought science to life in countless homes and classrooms.

Carlos is now retired and his son John operates Insect Lore USA in Shafter, California. Carlos’ daughter Jennifer is head of Insect Lore Europe, located in picturesque Cornwall, UK.

Vicinity

Near this location:
740
ft
Purely Storage
120 S Beech Ave
1
mi
Walmart Supercenter
Bakersfield (Olive)
1
mi
Shafter Mini Storage
200 Elm St
1
mi
Subway
770 E Lerdo Hwy
1
mi
Anytime Fitness
1160 E Lerdo Hwy
1
mi
Timeless Beauty Salon & Gifts
720 East Lerdo Hwy

20 reviews of Insect Lore

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Place rating: 1
Manhattan, NY
I wish I read reviews before placing my order. The customer service is horrendous. I chatted somebody to update my order delivery — she never updated it. I e-​mailed them and I got no response so I chatted again to which the rude person I was chatting with responded «Well all of our e-​mails have been answered».
Then I asked for a supervisor’s e-​mail as well as a confirmation e-​mail that my order was updated and the person I was chatting with said «My supervisor is watching this chat as we speak. She will send you the confirmation once you e-​mail her.» are you crazy — that is unacceptable.
Spend your money elsewhere. Horrible horrible service.
Place rating: 1
Shawnee, KS
Ordered from them over the last 5 years and was always a great experience. This year we ordered butterflies, lady bugs and praying mantis. Butterflies showed up but the others did not. Called and inquired on status. Customer Service said that they have proof they were delivered on our doorstep. Never did arrive at our residence… Customer Service Rep said oh well, not sure what I can do for you. Really? 5 years of being a loyal customer and this is how I am treated… Good luck. Will never order from you again. Good luck with your social channels as I promote the bad experience.
Place rating: 1
St. Charles, MO
Paid for 2 – 3 day shipping 15 days ago and still have not received order. Contacted customer service 1 week ago and they have not returned my email. Cannot leave a voice message with this company. Outgoing message states they will return all email inquiries within one business day. This had not proved true in my case.
Place rating: 1
Canyon Country, CA
Paid for 2 day shipping and it’s been 5. I decided to «chat» with someone on their website only to discover the second I mentioned I haven’t received my order, they stopped responding. There’s no number on their website.
A giant waste of time and money.
Place rating: 5
Bakersfield, CA
EXCELLENT PRODUCT, DELIVERED PRETTY FAST! I don’t even know what these reviews are about. We had insect lore kits in our classroom when I was in gradeschool. And we just ordered their kit online, and received healthy crawling tiny caterpillars in 3 days! Delivered on a saturday! Whaaa? So far all five of these caterpillars are chysalides. My daughter is excited to look at this cup every single day. Full Five Stars.
Place rating: 1
Los Angeles, CA
It was thee worst customer service experience I’ve ever encountered. They take forever to respond to emails, orders, etc. When you finally speak to someone, they don’t have any answers to provide you and connects you to someone else who does not have an answer for your order either. When the wrong items were shipped, they said it was out of their hands and couldn’t do anything about it because it was an shipping error. This place is the worst!!!
Place rating: 1
Bay Shore, NY
Horrible customer service. I received my butterfly kit and the box containing the caterpillars was crushed. All of them were «no longer with us». Which, by the way, I had to explain to my very excited 5 year-​old nephew. Needless to say, that didn’t go over too well.
I contacted Insect Lore and explained the situation. I explained that I needed it by 7⁄13 because I had promised my nephew’s daycare teacher I was going to be bringing this in so that the whole class can experience it together. They only have a few weeks left before all the kids head out to kindergarten.
Today is the 13th and I contacted them to see where the shipment is and I was told that it was being shipped to me in the same manner in which I originally ordered it.
While I understand their position, I believe the cost of delivery is something they should take up with UPS.
I ordered it in plenty of time to receive it by the 13th. They’re trying to say I should have paid for over night.
Now I’m being told it’s scheduled to be delivered on the 17th… down right horrible service.
Place rating: 1
New York, NY
dont go with this company. save the aggravation.
now my card got hacked. coincidence?
Place rating: 4
Pacific, WA
I had a container of the caterpillars sent to me, but they were dead. I emailed the company and asked for a replacement. They wanted pictures and a description of what the caterpillars did when I rolled the container, and after going back and forth with them a few times, I did get a replacement. I’d consider this good customer service. I was worried after ready some of the other reviews, but I had a good experience. Our new caterpillars arrived alive and well :)
Place rating: 1
Three Rivers, CA
My school ordered certificates for the the kindergarten teachers at my school site. When I went to redeem the coupons, the site suggested paying an expedited shipping fee so as to ensure good caterpillar health. We each paid the extra shipping fees, using our three separate debit cards. While the caterpillars were fine, each of our debit cards were hacked within days of using the site. I hardly find this a coincidence. When I tried to contact the site, it took several days for them to respond. I tried several times to reach them by phone to no avail. When they did finally email me back, they took no responsibility for the breach in their system’s security. They actually said that their customer’s security was a top concern. When I emailed back, saying that it was was obvious that there was a problem with their site and that they obviously are not concerned with their customer’s credit security, I got an email back saying that they would have their manager look into the problem. I never heard back from them again. Its been about a month. Although the charges were cleared from our accounts, I would think that Insect Lore would have wanted to look into this matter further in order to ensure that their future customers are happy and secure with their purchases. I was really just emailing them to make them aware of the problem. Obviously they do not care. It is very sad because I have ordered for them for 14 years but will never order again.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
I ordered the Butterfly Garden for my niece and nephew for Easter and they were so excited when their baby caterpillars arrived! The look on their face was priceless! Such a cool experience to watch them wake every morning to see how their caterpillars were growing into butterflies. They can’t wait to do this again! All caterpillars arrived on time and in perfect condition, I had no issues working with Insect Lore. Really so cool, I can’t recommend doing this enough!
Place rating: 1
Flushing, NY
I wouldn’t consider re-​ordering from this company ! I ordered 5″ LIVE” caterpillars, received only 4. I emailed the company kindly asking for a replacement or some sort of refund and haven’t heard back from them after numerous emails have been sent.
Place rating: 3
McFarland, CA
This business is still open but the museum part is closed. About 2 years when it was still open to visitors I took my son on a trip to see the insect exhibits. Our visit was both enjoyable and entertaining. Last week, I took my daughter who was now old enough to appreciate the insects but unfortunately for us we found a sign posted outside the museum stating that the museum part was closed but was still selling insects online and by phone.
Place rating: 1
Niceville, FL
Is there a way to give a negative star!!!
What horrible customer service! NO phone line so you can not talk to a person. I requested 5 confirmation emails, never received one. Then I asked for a fax and never received it. Yes I checked junk mail :) I got no product after paying! I ordered them over 10 days ago and they still have not arrived. All the online rep said was that they were sorry for the inconvenience. I am contacting my credit card company to dispute charges.
Place rating: 1
Lake Villa, IL
Order butterflies on their website for mother’s day. I paid $ 30.33 for TWO DAY shipping. It won’t be here on time because they failed to ship it on time as they promise on their website.
I contacted UPS and they told me they shipped it regular 2-​day shipping opposed to the guaranteed delivery, 2-​day shipping. I suppose them saving $ 3.95 was more important than shipping me the bugs in time.
Contacted their customer service about all of this and haven’t received a response. If I receive the bugs late, I will be filing a complaint against this company with the BBB.
Go elsewhere! You will regret it if you don’t.
Place rating: 1
CANYON CNTRY, CA
I have been a loyal, repeat customer of Insectlore for over ten years. I’ve never had a problem before.
However, this time I have three problems with my order: first, the butterfly larvae arrived with heavy condensation in the two cups and all the larvae were dead. This was probably weather related and not the fault of Insectlore, but I would like the larvae replaced. Second, there are supposed to be 5 larvae in each cup, but I had 4 in each cup. Third, the tube of ladybug larvae arrived with nothing but tiny skin castings and food in it – zero larvae.
Here is the root of the problem: NO CUSTOMER SERVICE. It is not possible to speak to a live human being, as they have gone to a customer hostile automated (email only) system. There is no phone number to contact a person, toll free or otherwise. The phone number listed above gets you to a recording that repeats over and over.
They promise to respond to customer service emails within 24 hours. My first email received no response at all. My second email received an automated «we received your email» response. I have not heard from them again with a personal response of any kind.
Shame on you, Insectlore, for disrespecting the customers that have helped you grow. You have obviously grown too large to be able to handle customer service in a reasonable, timely way.
By the many recent negative reviews, this seems to be a fairly new problem. If my problem is not resolved immediately, I shall contact my credit card company to contest the charges.
Place rating: 5
Irvine, CA
A must see when passing through on the 99 highway. Lots of insects to check out and a great staff. Just make sure they are open as they are about 5 miles off the highway. Last time we went they were closed. I however did tract down an employee in the parking lot who was great and we were able to buy butterflies at least.
Place rating: 1
Wasilla, AK
I have to first given credit that, yes, we did receive our order and, yes, the butterflies did hatch.
However, I just received a letter from this company that my credit card information has been deleted and I need to remit my payment.
Concern: We paid by check.
Attempting to contact this company has been interesting… don’t bother calling, the recording is cyclic and there is not option to speak with an actual person.
I thing, especially in lieu of today’s world, we all need to be weary of Credit Card Fraud or at least a lack of appropriate Credit Card and Personal Information Security with this bug company.
Reviewing simliar incidences, I too will be contacting the CADOJ.
After reading all the other reviews, just reported to the Better Business Bureau. This takes just a couple minutes and they need to hear from consumers.
DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT GIVE THIS COMPANY YOUR PERSONAL CREDIT CARD INFORMATION.
Place rating: 1
Mountain View, CA
So last year my son got a butterfly cage thing as a gift. I just got around to ordering the larvae earlier this summer. I specified a date that they could be delivered — to plan between vacations, etc… Bugs didn’t show.
No prob, I called/​emailed got it sorted out. There was a computer upgrade, my order must have gotten lost, etc… Gave a new date… Bugs didn’t show.
I emailed again asking about the arrival — 4 MONTHS AFTER ORIGINAL ORDER. No response. Perhaps an employee checks out this page and can help me receive the larvae we’ve already ordered!
Place rating: 5
Bakersfield, CA
I’m a kindergarten teacher in the city of Bakersfield, just about 20 minutes South of Insect Lore located in Shafter, CA. Every spring my grade level partners and I drive up to Insect Lore to pick up a new container of caterpillars for our classrooms. The container comes with five little bitty black caterpillars and has a layer of caterpillar food on the bottom. You don’t have to open it to feed or water them. The students enjoy using magnifying glasses to watch the caterpillars get larger and larger until they climb up to the top of the cup and form a chrysalis.
Once they do, we open the cup and take out the paper they’ve attached themselves to and pin it inside a butterfly garden, a large container surrounded by netting, and wait for the butterflies to crawl out and stretch their wings as they dry. After a couple of days of feeding them sugar water and watching tem fly around the enclosure we take them outside and set them free. It’s a valuable experience for the children to watch the life cycle of a butterfly take place first hand.
We purchase these every year, one set for each classroom, and every time we receive healthy caterpillars that produce healthy caterpillars. After I purchased a butterfly garden the first year, all I need to purchase is new caterpillars each year. Insect Lore provides live larvae that are healthy and hearty.
In the old days, before the caterpillars, I purchased ladybug larvae and kept them in a ladybug land. All of the larvae became ladybugs which we also let go.
They also carry a variety of toys with an insect theme. I bought the sets that show the different stages of the butterfly and ladybug lifestyles with little plastic creatures.
This is a wonderful experience for children of all ages to have either at school or at home.