Butterfly Excursions

Flower & Garden Magazine, Nov, 1999 by Molly Dean

Glittering Wings and Exotic Blossoms

Glass-encased butterfly worlds have become an ever-growing phenomenon, and it's easy to see why. I'll never forget my first glimpse into one of these conservatories. Walking by the entrance to the Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory, I glanced into an enormous window framing a vignette of big tropical morphos, with wings of iridescent azure, dancing above a misty waterfall.

Further wonders awaited inside. I paused to admire what I thought were lacy green and black butterfly artworks ornamenting a "Do Not Touch the Butterflies" sign, when one of them took flight and sailed over my head. I then moved into an enchanted atmosphere of exotic greenery, warm mists and flowing water, where literally hundreds of butterflies of almost all colors of the rainbow soared, courted, basked or paused to drink nectar from beautiful blossoms, completely undeterred by the gaggle of dumbstruck humans. Children laughed in delight as butterflies lit upon outstretched hands or briefly perched on top of heads. Others stood transfixed, staring into glass cases along the edge of the conservatory as occasional butterflies emerged drowsily from the shimmering green or gold earring-like pupae housed inside.

The experience of being able to interact firsthand with tropical butterflies from places like Malaysia, Kenya, New Guinea and Costa Rica represents only the tip of the iceberg in terms of what many of these butterfly houses have to offer. Visitors can take educational tours and classes on butterfly gardening and breeding, and even buy plants to attract butterflies to their own gardens. Newly inspired by the wonder and fascination of these fragile insects, many people begin to focus for the first time on ecological concerns, such as rapidly disappearing rain forests and the resulting loss of the species inhabiting them, including many tropical butterflies. Some of the larger houses, such as Butterfly World at Coconut Creek, Florida, produce butterflies for ecological research and are involved in the captive rearing of critically endangered butterfly species.

The appearance of glass butterfly houses, places artificially replicating the climactic conditions of tropical butterfly habitats, is relatively recent. The first house opened in 1976 on Guernsey, one of Britain's Channel Islands. Others followed throughout Europe, and then in 1988, the first U.S. butterfly house, Butterfly World, opened its doors to the public. Today at least a dozen butterfly houses can be found throughout the country, and more are being built.

BUTTERFLY WORLD

Different butterfly houses have their own unique ambiance and attractions. The atmosphere at Butterfly World, for instance, is delightfully surreal. Visitors encounter not only hundreds of butterflies from the world over, but also occasional vignettes, such as a white dove, shrouded in mist and basking on a mossy rock; vivid tropical blossoms unfolding against a backdrop of steam clouds and rocks; or giant silk moths basking in the branches of trees, all to the sounds of piped classical music and flowing water. Butterfly World also contains a screened aviary for exotic hummingbirds, many of which zip past visitors' ears.

Outside are gardens, including a waterlily-starred lake and an English rose garden. Visitors from other parts of the country are usually bemused to discover beautiful Hybrid Teas unfolding their blossoms in January. A Secret Garden hidden behind vast walls of blue sky vine (Thunbergia grandiflora), a plant native to India and Bengal, holds the largest collection of passionflowers in the world. Other weird and wonderful plants that can be seen in the gardens include angel's trumpet, with its enormous, dangling cups of pale pink, the giant Dutchman's pipe vine (Aristolochia gigantea) and its relative, the pelican flower (A. ringens).

CECIL B. DAY BUTTERFLY CENTER

The Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center, part of Georgia's Callaway Gardens, claims to be the first to "incorporate world-class horticulture with its butterflies." Entering the 8,000-square-foot conservatory has been described as being "like magically stepping into the center of a diamond." This effect is the result of the myriad panes of glass refracting light and casting a brilliant luminosity upon the conservatory's butterflies and blossoms. The Butterfly Center itself is set amid 1-1/2 acres of gardens filled with larval and nectar plants to lure butterflies. These gardens also contain plants that appeal to birds.

COCKRELL BUTTERFLY CENTER

In Houston, Texas, the Cockrell Butterfly Center's entryway is built to resemble a cave, replete with stalagmites and stalactites. Visitors pass in front of a silvery, sheet-like curtain of water created by a 40-foot waterfall, and then pass upward into a lush, steamy world, canopied by rain forest plants, and home to approximately 1,500 butterflies. As with many of these houses, the Cockrell Butterfly Center obtains the majority of its butterflies (imported as pupae) from working "butterfly farms" in the Central American, South American and Asian tropics. This is an important point: bringing in butterflies from tropical areas helps to conserve species that are gradually disappearing along with vanishing rain forests.