Live at the Museum: Butterflies

The Museum of Natural History’s popular Butterfly Pavilion officially opens on July 1. The first shipment of live exotic butterfly chrysalises arrives in late June, and by the end of the month, the pavilion will be full of colour and activity.

Visitors can admire the winged wonders in fantastic colours--some black with brilliant red wings, others cobalt blue or emerald green--all summer. The sight of exotic butterflies skipping from flower to flower gathering nectar is a sensory experience that visitors look forward to each year.

Barb Furlong of Halifax plans to return to the pavilion with her children. She says they are already asking when they can go back to see the beautiful butterflies again.

"My girls really enjoy how the butterflies flutter all around you," she says.

Every two weeks a new shipment of 100 chrysalises will arrive at the museum. Each shipment contains about 20 species, all tropical, most from South and Central America.

Once a butterfly emerges from its chrysalis, its wings take a couple of hours to dry. Then it joins other live butterflies in the museum’s walk-in Butterfly Pavilion. In the pavilion, visitors experience the butterflies "nectaring" from a special selection of fruit, local plants gathered by the museum’s botanist, and Gatorade. Catching a glimpse of this natural phenomenon is truly exciting.

Butterflies are a wonderful way to introduce people to bugs, because they’re a bit like bugs, but not at all threatening.

"Visitors can count on the museum for close-up experiences of real nature, and friendly young naturalists listen to their stories and answer their questions," says museum director Debra Burleson.

The butterflies are part of Live at the Museum, which happens every day during July and August. It includes the Nature Centre, where visitors can see live creatures like frogs, turtles and life from the seashore, bug-cooking demonstrations at the Bug Bistro and butterfly talks. Younger audiences enjoy Gus Tales . . . stories about the museum’s resident 79-year-old tortoise. There’s even a real in-house bee colony . . . but don’t worry: it’s safely enclosed behind plexiglass.

The Museum of Natural History is located at 1747 Summer St. in Halifax, just next to the Halifax Public Gardens. Admission is charged during the summer, but is free on Canada Day. Visitor parking is free.