Live Butterflies To Return To Natural History Museum

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — One of the American Museum of Natural History's most popular seasonal exhibits is set to return to the Upper West Side in October, museum officials announced recently.

This year's Butterfly Conservatory exhibit will open Saturday, Oct. 12 and run through May 25, museum officials said. The conservatory, home to 500 butterflies, tropical vegetation and balmy 80-degree temperatures offers an escape from the brisk weathers of New York City's fall and winter seasons.

"The Butterfly Conservatory is a joyful, enchanting, and educational exhibition for both children and adults, and truly transports visitors out of their everyday lives into a magical setting teeming with color and flourishing life," Ellen V. Futter, President of the American Museum of Natural History, said in a statement.

The live butterflies will be housed in the American Museum of Natural History's 1,200-square-foot vivarium. The conservatory's hours mirror those of the museum, which is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. The exhibit is curated by David Grimaldi, of the museum's Division of Invertebrate Zoology, and is managed by the Exhibition Department's Hazel Davies.

Butterflies are imported from Florida, Costa Rica, Kenya, Thailand, Malaysia, Ecuador and Australia, museum officials said. The exhibit offers museumgoers a first-hand glimpse at the life cycle of a butterfly, which lasts about two-to-three weeks. Butterfly pupae will also be imported and the insects that emerge will be kept in the vivarium. This process of recycling the vivarium's population will play out many times through the duration of the exhibit.

Other topics addressed by the annual exhibit include an explanation of worldwide efforts to preserve butterfly habitats and an information on New York State's native butterfly species. This year's exhibit will be the 22nd time the American Museum of Natural History has put on the Butterfly Conservatory.