Butterfly zoo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A butterfly zoo is a zoo which is specifically intended for the breeding and display of butterflies. Some zoos do also deal animals with private customers.

Butterfly Zoos are open to the public. A double-entry door is usually used to ensure that no butterflies escape.

Exploration of such zoos may be with a guide or on one's own, at leisure. Guided tours may last about fifteen minutes as the guide points out all the species of butterflies that are in the greenhouse that day (new shipments usually arrive weekly, and stocks vary). Guides may also show butterfly eggs, caterpillars, and chrysalids, and identify specific plants that are favored by each species. Between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. is usually the best time to see butterflies emerging from their pupae.

Butterflies are most active on warm and sunny days with little wind, because they require the heat of the sun to aid in their digestion. On rainy days, they usually hide in the flowers and leaves.

There are often many different species in such zoos, with stock including butterflies from Africa, Malaysia, South America, Thailand, New Guinea, Costa Rica, the Philippines, and other countries. The vibrant colors and patterns on the wings of the insects have earned them the fanciful nickname, "flying flowers."

Wear a light floral perfume, and wear bright-colored or bright-white clothing, to encourage them to land upon you, but never touch a butterfly. Butterflies are attracted to a bright Hawaiian print shirt for the same reason they are attracted to flowers, but your touch will cause damage to their sensitive wings because of the oils in our skin and their easily-damaged scales.

Adult butterflies live only one to two weeks, on average, during which time they must produce a new generation. Some species like the familiar Monarch butterfly, however, can live as long as six months in the wild.

[edit] List of butterfly Zoos or gardens

• Ashland Nature Center Butterfly House, Delaware Nature Society, Hockessin, Delaware, USA
• Bioworks Butterfly Garden, Museum of Science and Industry, Tampa, Florida, USA
• Brookside Gardens, Wheaton,Maryland, USA
• Butterfly Conservatory and Insect Zoo, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, USA
• Butterfly Garden, Bronx Zoo, Bronx, NY, USA
• Butterfly House, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
• Butterfly House, Missouri Botanical Garden, Chesterfield, Missouri, USA
• Butterfly House, Whitehouse, Ohio, USA
• Butterfly Landing, Franklin Park Zoo, Boston, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, USA
• Butterfly Park, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Houses some 6,000 butterflies of over 120 species.
• Butterfly Pavilion & Insect Center, Westminster, Colorado, USA
• Butterfly Pavilion, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, USA
• The Butterfly Place, Westford, Massachusetts, USA
• Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center, Callaway Gardens, Pine Mountain, Georgia, USA
• Cockrell Butterfly Center & Insect Zoo, Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston, Texas, USA
• Frederik Meijer Gardens, Grand Rapids Township, Michigan, USA
• Insectarium du Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Quebec, Canada
• Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory, South Deerfield, Massachussets, USA
• Magic Wings Butterfly House, North Carolina Museum of Life and Science, Durham, North Carolina, USA
• Monsanto insectarium, Saint Louis Zoological Park, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
• Niagara Falls Butterly Conservatory, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
• Sertoma Butterfly House, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA
• Tradewinds Park Butterfly World, Coconut Creek, Florida, USA
• Victoria Butterfly Gardens, Brentwood Bay, British Columbia, Canada
• Vlindertuin, Knokke, Belgium
• White River Gardens, Indianapolis Zoo, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.

[edit] Sources

• The Entomological Society of America