Live butterflies exhibit
- livingplanet3
- Premium Member - 2024
- Reactions:
- Posts: 607
- Joined: Tue May 24, 2022 4:55 pm
Live butterflies exhibit
Last Monday, I went to an exhibit of live tropical butterflies at the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens. This temporary exhibit has been held annually (in most years) by the gardens for at least two decades now, in their rainforest conservatory. The species vary considerably year-to-year, depending on availability, but Morphos, Caligos and various Heliconiinae are always prominently featured. Here are some of the better photos I was able to get -
- livingplanet3
- Premium Member - 2024
- Reactions:
- Posts: 607
- Joined: Tue May 24, 2022 4:55 pm
- livingplanet3
- Premium Member - 2024
- Reactions:
- Posts: 607
- Joined: Tue May 24, 2022 4:55 pm
- livingplanet3
- Premium Member - 2024
- Reactions:
- Posts: 607
- Joined: Tue May 24, 2022 4:55 pm
- livingplanet3
- Premium Member - 2024
- Reactions:
- Posts: 607
- Joined: Tue May 24, 2022 4:55 pm
- livingplanet3
- Premium Member - 2024
- Reactions:
- Posts: 607
- Joined: Tue May 24, 2022 4:55 pm
- livingplanet3
- Premium Member - 2024
- Reactions:
- Posts: 607
- Joined: Tue May 24, 2022 4:55 pm
- livingplanet3
- Premium Member - 2024
- Reactions:
- Posts: 607
- Joined: Tue May 24, 2022 4:55 pm
Re: Live butterflies exhibit
Great shots. How much longer will the exhibit be there?
- livingplanet3
- Premium Member - 2024
- Reactions:
- Posts: 607
- Joined: Tue May 24, 2022 4:55 pm
Re: Live butterflies exhibit
Nice... but somehow that sort of exhibit gives me a touch of vertigo when I see Morphos and Caligos flying with P. memnon and the odd Troides!
John
John
- livingplanet3
- Premium Member - 2024
- Reactions:
- Posts: 607
- Joined: Tue May 24, 2022 4:55 pm
Re: Live butterflies exhibit
I'll soon upload some additional photos, from exhibitions of previous years. And yes, they have occasionally had Troides spp.
- adamcotton
- Global Moderators
- Reactions:
- Posts: 784
- Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2022 12:24 pm
- Location: Thailand
- adamcotton
- Global Moderators
- Reactions:
- Posts: 784
- Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2022 12:24 pm
- Location: Thailand
Re: Live butterflies exhibit
I seem to remember that to get permits they are only allowed to import male pupae.
Adam.
Adam.
Re: Live butterflies exhibit
There is a similar butterfly dome in Houston. They used to sell the specimens that had died for $2 each, but they had to stop doing that for legal reasons.
- livingplanet3
- Premium Member - 2024
- Reactions:
- Posts: 607
- Joined: Tue May 24, 2022 4:55 pm
Re: Live butterflies exhibit
Is it the Cockrell Butterfly Center at the Houston Museum of Natural Science? -
https://www.hmns.org/cockrell-butterfly-center/
I haven't been to that place since the mid-90s, but as I recall, it was a far more impressive exhibit than anything that my local botanical gardens has ever had (undoubtedly because it's a permanent operation, rather than just a temporary one). In addition to the butterfly house, the center also displays (at least, at the time I visited) a nice assemblage of pinned insect specimens (once the private collection of Mike Whitley, which the museum purchased in 1987) -
https://blog.hmns.org/2017/06/we-dont-m ... ollection/
Re: Live butterflies exhibit
Yes, it's the Cockrell. Mike Whitley's collection is still owned by the museum but most of it is kept in a building that is not adjacent to the main museum. He kept collecting after he sold the collection. He is now deceased but his wife has the specimens he collected after the sale. I don't know how many drawers his wife has, but probably a fairly large number.
I used to visit the FW Botanical Gardens frequently when I lived there many years ago. There was no butterfly house then. Glad to see there's one now.
I used to visit the FW Botanical Gardens frequently when I lived there many years ago. There was no butterfly house then. Glad to see there's one now.
Create an account or sign in to join the discussion
You need to be a member in order to post a reply
Create an account
Not a member? register to join our community
Members can start their own topics & subscribe to topics
It’s free and only takes a minute