It sounds like a dream—a thousand iridescent butterflies fluttering around in a glass atrium—but this month you can experience it for real at the Museum Of Life and Science’s Magic Wings Butterfly House. Starting today, the Butterfly House’s one thousand Blue Morpho butterflies will begin hatching from their chrysalises and living out their two to three week adult stage among the House’s other insects and tropical flora.At five to eight inches, Blue Morphos are one of the largest butterflies in the world. They’re native to forests along the Amazon River and in parts of Central America. The Museum of Life and Science has been receiving shipments of Blue Morpho chrysalises from small farms in Costa Rica for a couple weeks. Butterfly House Director Ulrich Hartmond says that this is a large part of the mission of the museum.
“For many of the farms with which we work, butterfly breeding represents a significant source of steady income and dramatically increases the ecological awareness of the local population,” Hartmond said in a statement released by The Museum. Hartmond said that purchasing pupae from farms practicing sustainable methods ensures the further conservation of these butterfly farms.
The Blue Morpho butterfly exhibit is open July 1-31 and is included in the price of regular admission to the Museum of Life and Science.