Customers often ask about the grading of butterflies being offered for sale. As butterflies are not a manufactured product, quality of specimens can vary greatly, especially if they have been flying around for a while.
Below is the grading system we use at Wildish Butterflies. Most resellers use the same grading system.
A1 Specimens with no damage, or as perfect as you can get from a wild caught specimen. Sometimes a grading of EP is used for farmed specimens harvested as soon as they have emerged. We use A1 for both farmed and wild caught specimens as it's often hard to know the true origin of second hand specimens.
A1- Specimens with very minor damage such as antenna damage, a tiny chip or a small scratch.
A- Specimens with minor damage such as antennas missing, small chips, minor scratching or some flight wear such as minor scale damage.
A2 Specimens with considerable damage such as large chips, small pieces missing from the wings, severely damaged abdomen, major scale damage, staining, small tears.
B Specimens with more severe damage than A2.