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A butterfly house, conservatory, or lepidopterarium is a facility which is specifically intended for the breeding and display of
Live butterfly exhibits became popular in England in the end of the 1970s, appealing to the British love of
Butterfly houses are typically open to the public.
Exploration of such facilities may be with a guide or self-paced. Guided tours may last about fifteen minutes, as the guide points out all the species of butterflies that are in the greenhouse that day. Stocks vary, as new shipments usually arrive weekly. Guides may also show butterfly eggs,
Visiting Butterfly Houses, Farms and Gardens
{{Zoos Butterflies Insectariums
butterflies
Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises ...
with an emphasis on education. Some butterfly houses also feature other insects and arthropod
Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and cuticle made of chiti ...
s. Butterfly houses are owned and operated by museums, universities, non-profit corporations, and private individuals as part of their residence; as well as small businesses that are owner operated.
History
Live butterfly exhibits became popular in England in the end of the 1970s, appealing to the British love of greenhouse
A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic conditions are grown.These ...
s and natural settings.
The tropical world's first live butterfly and insect sanctuary is Penang Butterfly Farm in Penang, Malaysia, established on March 29, 1986.
The first butterfly house in the United States, Butterfly World, opened in Coconut Creek, Florida, in 1988.
Activities
Butterfly houses are typically open to the public.
Exploration of such facilities may be with a guide or self-paced. Guided tours may last about fifteen minutes, as the guide points out all the species of butterflies that are in the greenhouse that day. Stocks vary, as new shipments usually arrive weekly. Guides may also show butterfly eggs, caterpillars
Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths).
As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Symp ...
, and chrysalids and identify specific plants that are favored by each species. Usually, the best time to see butterflies emerging from their pupae is between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Butterflies are most active on warm and sunny days with little wind
Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few ...
, 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 butterfly houses, with stock including butterflies from Africa, Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...
, South America, Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
, Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
, the Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
, and other places. The vibrant colors and patterns on the wings of the insects have earned them the fanciful nickname "flying flowers" .
Many species of adult butterflies live only one to two weeks, during which time they must produce a new generation. Some species, such as the familiar monarch butterfly, however, can live as long as six months or even longer in the wild.
Schools have butterfly houses for educational purposes. In Puerto Rico, a group of students from the Clara Maldonado de Aramburu School in Juncos, celebrated the relaunching of its butterfly house which had been destroyed by Hurricane Maria
Hurricane Maria was a deadly Category 5 hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the worst natural disaster in recorded history to affect ...
on September 19, 2017. With help from community members, the butterfly houses and ecosystem was fixed, and their monarch butterflies took flight in March 2019.
See also
* List of butterfly houses * List of insectariumsReferences
External links
Visiting Butterfly Houses, Farms and Gardens
{{Zoos Butterflies Insectariums