NEW YORK, NY (PNAN) – On Saturday, November 20, 2021 at the American Museum of Natural History and now in its 23rd year, “The Butterfly Conservatory: Tropical Butterflies Alive in Winter” is an annual favorite visited by millions of children and adults, who mingle with up to 500 fluttering, iridescent butterflies among blooming tropical flowers and lush green vegetation in 80-degree temperatures.
Inside a 1,200-square-foot vivarium, a freestanding transparent structure aflutter with activity, visitors can interact with butterflies as they stroll along a winding pathway surrounded by tropical plants and vibrant blossoms. Powerful halide lamps shine down from the ceiling, simulating the sunlight that streams through a rain forest canopy. In the vivarium, monarchs, zebra longwings, paper kites, and other butterfly species flutter among people and plants.
The conservatory’s butterflies come from farms in Florida, Costa Rica, Kenya, Thailand, Malaysia, Ecuador and Australia. Additional featured species include iridescent blue morpho butterflies, striking scarlet swallowtails, large owl butterflies and beautiful green birdwings.
Colorful educational displays outside the vivarium explain the life cycle of butterflies, the worldwide efforts to protect their diverse habitats. Scientists rely on wild butterflies to gauge the health of an ecosystem and how the Museum’s butterfly specimens offer a wealth of information to butterfly moth researchers around the world.
The exhibit will be on view through May 30, 2022, but in the meantime to see a past showing on the Butterfly Conservatory see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i75VjJ_euPE&t=4s
About
The American Museum of Natural History, Founded in 1869, the American Museum of Natural History (www.amnh.org) is one of the world’s preeminent scientific, educational and cultural institutions. The Museum encompasses more than 40 permanent exhibition halls, including those in the Rose Center for Earth and Space and the Hayden Planetarium, as well as galleries for temporary exhibitions. The Museum’s scientists draw on a world-class permanent collection of more than 34 million specimens and artifacts, some of which are billions of years old, and on one of the largest natural history libraries in the world. Through its Richard Gilder Graduate School, the Museum grants the Ph.D. degree in Comparative Biology and the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree, the only such freestanding, degree-granting program at any museum in the United States. The Museum’s website, digital videos, and apps for mobile devices bring its collections, exhibitions, and educational programs to millions around the world.