Bugs & Butterflies UK Reviews 

I placed an order on 1st June for butterfly eggs (Order #2167). Over a month later, I’ve received nothing. I’ve sent several messages via their contact form and email — the only replies I’ve had are automated. No human response, no update, no product, and no refund.

Their stock emails keep promoting new products as “available immediately,” but my order seems to have been ignored. There’s no evidence anyone is actually handling orders or support. At this point, I feel the company is either overwhelmed or not operating transparently.

Be cautious — based on my experience, you may pay and get nothing in return.

Had a royal mail tracker email, but it just said they were waiting for it from the supplier. I emailed for clarification and no answer. Then my pupae arrived today - two had already emerged and were dead. I'd ordered 5 in total and only got 4. One emerged and seems happy and one is emerging right now. I paid £25. Have emailed again, but no response.

I have ordered previously and it has been fine but ordered newts this year and even got a tracking number but the tracking just says they’re still waiting for them to be posted and they obviously haven’t arrived. It’s been months and despite lots of emails no reply. Have finally got a refund through my bank.

Awful service.

Like all the other reviews I am reading I also had the same experience. I ordered the eggs in February, paid £26.52 which included expensive delivery. Ordered has never materialised I’ve sent several emails and no replies. I wish I had read the reviews before ordering. Don’t make the same mistake I did!

Ordered last year August 2024 they never sent it out, they said they would send out double the order for the inconvenience this season but when you email, you get no response. Don’t waste your money! As your order will never arrive! By the looks of it, it has happened a lot!

This outfit is outrageous; DO NOT TRUST THEM with your money. I ordered pupa weeks ago that have never arrived and they ignore my messages. I also ordered eggs that did arrive but were infertile. They do not communicate, they do not offer a service of any value. They owe me approximately £70 and nobody ever responds. Utterly disgraceful - NEVER AGAIN!

Bought catapillars which did arrive but didn't get my newts I ordered and no reply when emailed would not recommend

Last year made an order never arrived refund EVENTUALLY processed. This year thought would give them another chance wish I had not. Tracking numbers not correct no response to emails. Evenyually something eventually arrived in post looked like eggs but followed instructions to hatch to the T and nothing emerged. think eggs may have already been non viable. NO MORE CHANCES with this company they are hopeless.

Last week, I placed an order with Bugs & Butterflies and paid £5.45 for shipping. I got a dispatch confirmation, but Royal Mail tracking still says “We’re expecting it” — meaning they never actually received the parcel. It’s been days with no delivery.

When I tried to contact the company, I only received an automatic reply saying:
"We are currently moving to a new site so please bear with us as we set up and settle in!"

I really wish I’d checked their Trustpilot reviews before ordering. Hopefully this helps others avoid the same mistake.

Scammers in my opinion.
Last year ordered mixture of caterpillars and eggs. Never arrived, have contacted them multiple times with no response whatsoever but constant advertising emails about how they have new stock and they're shipping out ect. Will stick to insectlore from now on. Absolutely bullsheet about kivimg locations and moving site, pretty sure this is some creepy old bloke plucking slugs eggs off bushes as he finds them

I ordered the Native Butterfly Mix last year when it was listed as available. Although I received an email stating the order was preparing for dispatch, it never arrived. The tracking number provided never showed any movement, raising concerns about whether the order was even sent.

After numerous emails, I was eventually informed the item was out of stock. I requested a refund, but was instead promised double the quantity would be sent the following year. That order, which should have arrived this year, has also not materialized.

Since then, the website has been redesigned, and my original order details have conveniently disappeared from my account. Fortunately, I kept all email correspondence and still have my order number.

I’ve since moved house and have reached out multiple times to update my address and inquire about the status of my order—without receiving a single response or acknowledgment.

Based on my experience, and the many similar reviews I’ve seen, I strongly advise against ordering from this business. If the owner wishes to resolve this issue, I would be happy to update my review accordingly.

Please! Please don't give this man your money.
As an ELG Member since 2010, used to receiving way better livestock, response times from multiple different strangers. At considerably lower prices.

In early August 2024 I had purchased Citheronia Splendens and hadn't received them. As some others had stated here, the excuse was ill health. Which i cannot believe he did not at least have another member of staff who had access to emails to respond to the 3 emails i sent within a 2 month period.
Finally i received an email in the January 2025 with the excuse, he offered me credit for all the value.

So I ordered 10 eggs of Saturnia Pyri, Had a fairly poor hatch rate of 40%. In mesh covered 5 inch wide pots, with a small amount of kitchen towel in 21C room temp.

~Honestly, i hate using time doing a hobby as a measure of efficacy.
(You can cook all your life and still be terrible at it).
But over a decade and a half of rearing ova to larvae successfully, i would say my methodology is sufficient~

When Citheronia Regalis 5x larvae appeared in my emails, i was fairly excited. Ordering those with my remaining credit. When receiving the order i received eggs but 3 extra "Free". I should have been contacted to ask permission to send me the ova instead of larvae.
No where in the T&C's does it say they reserve the right to send stock in different stages/descriptions.
I would liken this to ordering an assembled product and receiving it disassembled.

I understand fundamentally that sending live larvae has its own risks. At least if i was sent larvae i had been sent 100% what i asked for, even if some arrive dead, eggs are not guaranteed to hatch. As proven by the Saturnia, and the rest of this review

7/8 of the Citheronia eggs developed. 3 hatched, and then 3 days later, the larvae and eggs ceased to live.
(The eggs death were validated with a digital microscope)
Very much in one fell swoop. The 3 larvae were all kept in their own separate mesh lidded pot. In very controlled and clean conditions. With the only variable being the foodplant. Liquidambar from a rural location. not roadside and not near farmers fields. (which might i add wouldn't be a problem if they had sent me the larvae).
Which the ova were not exposed to. So there inconsecutive death probably is not able to be correlated tp the foodplant.

My supposition is that they probably lost all their larvae to this same disease (most likely genetic). Then tried compensating by sending potentially faulty livestock.
Which by their dodgy T&C's means that faulty livestock/fertility after the day of delivery are not subject to refunds.
Then sugar coat it with "freebies" even though I'm fairly sure at that price id normally receive 10 ova.
To further support this idea, at the time of purchasing, they said the larvae were the last of that Citheronia clutch.

Of course i have had no response to my long and very descriptive email. Which, if you read the T&C's says he reserves the right to give you ONLY credit if he fails to respond to emails by the end of the season/year.

Do not buy from Bugs and Butterflies UK.
This person is not customer oriented and certainly "feels" like a hobbyist that has struggled to transition into a business model.
I'm sorry to the business owner if your reading this, but you should have just done better.

AVOID AT ALL COST
I ordered a mix of butterfly's last year which didn't come. Emailed time and time again. This man eventually sent back an email, saying he was in ill health, needed to move butterfly location, needed a secretary to answer emais. So for the inconvenience he would double my order this year. Sent emails this year, which have gone unanswered again. I was stupid enough to order some which come out in the spring and again never received them.
I'm now seeing a pattern, this man sends emails / adverts still selling them online, to all the poor people like myself who didn't check out the reviews first.
If you think you can get your money back, don't bother, he clearly states no refunds just store credit. How this man is allowed to get away with this is beyond belief.

This is the third year I have waited for my Death Head Hawk moth eggs, and 18 months for my Scarlet Tigers. Two years ago, I was promised that my order would be doubled. This of course was a total lie. I guess I must have sent over 40 emails and received two or three replies with false promises.

No news from my order a year and a half ago, despite several courtesy reminders. Unprofessional seller, scam?

Appalling, and looking at the reviews, which I WISH I had looked at before ordering, I don't understand gow anyine is getting their orders at all. Does it depend on who is posting or answering emails that day? Are they truly not aware of all the paid for and not received and not repsonses situations? And the people who say 'excellent' - are they real? I am so angry with this company and their utterly crap and contemptuous service. They STILL have my money. I STILL have no product or answers.

DO NOT BUY FROM THIS MAN
I have been robbed . I ordered some moth cocoons for my sons birthday and they still havent arrived 9 months later. There’s no contact from him . He just takes your money . Read the comments on here it’s shocking!!
I wish I knew before.
Stay well clear!

Dreadful. Very late delivery in tiny plastic pot which I found impossible to open. Resorted to breaking it. Eggs so tiny. Some lost. No instructions. So disappointed. Am on Pension Credit so don't have money to burn.

I decided to use this company for the first time this year, and ordered nearly £50 of butterfly eggs from them.

Their communication has been appalling, and despite several emails asking for an update on my order they refuse to reply.

They have the most atrocious customer care, and I would advise anyone looking at buying from this company to avoid them and find another more reliable and customer friendly supplier.

They only get one star because I have to to write the review. I ordered the native mix for my kids for Easter with a season of April/May. I emailed the company multiple times to get a status of the order and have heard nothing in response. I finally reached out and asked for a refund since my purchase never arrived, and I still haven’t heard anything. 10/10 do not recommend. Some lessons are learned the hard way