Butterfly Heaven in Gainesville

A couple of months before we were planning to drive to Florida for a winter vacation, there was an article in our Sunday newspaper about the Gainesville area.  While reading it, I made notes of places that sounded enjoyable to visit.  One of them was the Butterfly Rainforest at the Florida Museum of Natural History.  It was one of the first things we did after arriving in Florida, and it was definitely a highlight of our trip!

We hoped to have sunny, warm weather while we were in Florida.... enjoying tropical scenes, flowers, birds, and butterflies.  

All that happened right in the Butterfly Rainforest.

But, first, my husband had to scrape ice off our windshield that morning!

Then he drove us to the Butterfly Rainforest... and we went inside, into another world.  

We started thru the "Monarch Passage"...

There were videos on each side of the hallway, but we were excited to get to the conservatory, so we didn't linger long.

(I think I need to go back sometime!)

From the hallway we emerged into a larger area, in which the displays (the "Wall of Wings") were astoundingly beautiful.

There were sections overhead with framed digital images of butterflies from around the world.

We went over to  the counter and were given a few basic instructions before going into the rainforest (be careful not to step on or touch any butterflies, only open one door at a time when entering and exiting).  Then, we went in...

At first, there didn't seem to be that many butterflies, but I was enjoying the beauty of the plants.  As we moved farther into the space, we started seeing more and more butterflies.  

They were on the flowers...

and on the foliage...

 even on the bridge railings.

One popular spot for them was this large rock.

How many butterflies can you find on it?  

Did you see this one?  It was pretty well camouflaged.

There were even butterflies on the signs.

Besides butterflies, there were a few birds.  I enjoyed watching this one taking a bath.  The other two birds did not seem to enjoy it very much!

There were many wonderful things to see... small streams with waterfalls and a pond (complete with a turtle under the bridge and a large koi swimming around in it).  

One of the docents told us that at 2:00 there would be a butterfly release on the bridge in the center of the garden.  She said we could go look at other displays in the museum and come back at 2 if we wanted.  No need -- I was happy to spend the time wandering along the paths, relaxing, and watching the butterflies.

Everything was wonderfully well-kept and beautiful!  

That's not a dead leaf... that's a butterfly!

 The 6,400-square foot outdoor, screened enclosure was immaculate.  They say there are between 60 to 80 species of butterflies and moths in it all year long.  Because it is open to the air, it was a little chilly when we were there (remember the ice on our windshield that morning?) so I was glad to have  my jacket on.

A little before 2:00, we made our way to a spot on the bridge so we would be able to watch the release.   A large percentage of the butterflies are from around the world (just a few are native to Florida), so they are not released outside, but into the conservatory.  This young lady told us a little about each of the species before she gently took each one in her fingers and let them go.

Some were ready to fly and quickly took off.

Others needed a little more time and she placed them carefully on something so they could fly away in their own time.

She explained the difference between butterflies and moths... in appearance, mainly their antennae, as you can see in the next photo of a moth.

I already don't remember most of the names or many of the facts she told us about the different kinds, but the next one is an owl eye moth (again... I think need to go back!).

After the release, we finally left the rainforest conservatory to look at the rest of the facility.  

The next photo is a small portion of the racks where they raise the butterflies from chrysalis.  Chrysalises are purchased from various countries in different parts of the world.  They arrive in the mail - there is a sample package in the exhibit, but I did not get a photo of it.

Here is another section, with a butterfly that will probably be released at the next opportunity.

The Butterfly Rainforest is located at the University of Florida and they have research labs and drawers full of collections of butterflies and moths from around the world.  The McGuire Center is the world's largest Lepidoptera research facility.

There are large windows looking into the research facility so that visitors can observe.  This student was painstakingly cutting apart labels to pin with the specimens.  It's good to know that butterflies are being studied and loved by so many people.

I told my husband that visiting the Butterfly Rainforest 'made' my trip to Florida... it truly was wonderful!   If you are ever near Gainesville, I highly recommend a visit!