If you’ve already visited SOAR, you may want to come back after reading this. We know many of you are excited about the butterfly pavilion. It’s true, it’s a stunning exhibit with colorful tropical butterflies all around you. But we want to remind you that the exhibit begins outside of the pavilion in our nectar and host garden. The colorful plantings are beautiful to look at, but we urge you to look closer. This area was designed to naturally attract butterflies and other pollinators, so you are bound to see moths, butterflies, bees and ladybugs in the area. But you can also see nature take its course.
As the area attracts butterflies, they are laying eggs on the leaves of the plants. These tiny white dots are often hard to see but our trained volunteers will be able to assist you in trying to find some.
Photo by Chuck Bennett
Eventually, the eggs hatch and a caterpillar is born. Below is an image of a caterpillar that was born in the nectar and host garden.
Photo by Chuck Bennett
When the caterpillars are born, they are VERY hungry. They need to eat as much as they can to pupate and store reserves so they can transform into a beautiful butterfly.
Video by Caitlin Lee
As of this week, we’ve had our first butterfly emerge from its pupa in the nectar and host garden. Some visitors were lucky enough to see the excitement firsthand!
Photo by Caitlin Lee
While you can see every stage of the lifecycle in the host and nectar garden, we can’t guarantee what you will and won’t see. Nature is fickle and things happen on their own schedule. But the one thing we can guarantee you’ll see in our Emergence Chamber is the chrysalis, or pupa, stage. And as we get new butterflies, the pupa is unique for each species.
Photo by Chuck Bennett
And the more pupa we get, the higher chances you’ll get to see an emergence! It’s truly a remarkable thing to see in person.
Video by Stephanie Morino
So like we said, SOAR’s butterfly pavilion is a sight to see, but so is the beauty of nature taking its course in the host and nectar garden. So on your visit to SOAR, make sure to slow down and take it all in. And if you don’t see what you want to, you’ll just have to come back and hope Mother Nature is being a little more cooperative. You can purchase tickets for SOAR here.
The Garden has remained open to serve the community by being a place to encourage wellness and health through nature and open space. Please help keep us open by considering a gift to the Garden. You can do so here.
