Wonderland shares magic, mystery

The entrance to Butterfly Wonderland hints at the magic inside.

Even from the outside, the Butterfly Wonderland looks like a magical place to visit. The huge, colorful butterflies attached to the building hint at the magic contained inside.

Butterfly Wonderland houses a theater, a large Conservatory and other great exhibits.

The lobby and the hallway leading to the theater contain colorful pictures of butterflies, some drawn by small visitors to the facility, informative placards with butterfly information and a Monarch Migration Map showing the seasonal journeys of the monarch. Visitors enter the spacious theater to see a 3D movie, “Flight of the Butterflies,” about the monarch butterfly. The movie immerses those watching in the migration of the monarch.

The hall leading to the theater contains butterfly placards and a Monarch Migration Map.

Next door to the theater, the Butterfly Emergence Gallery houses butterfly chrysalids and  moth cocoons where visitors watch as butterflies and moths emerge. The transformation is amazing, and when the transformation is complete, these beautiful creatures go to live in the Conservatory.

An Atlas Moth emerges from its cocoon in the Butterfly Emergence Gallery.

On the wall, a huge, bright placard shows the four stages associated with emergence – egg, larval, pupal and adult. Each emergence chamber also contains additional information and volunteers answer questions and share additional information.

Butterflies emerge from their chrysalids in the Butterfly Emergence Gallery.

The 10,000 square foot Conservatory contains tropical flowers and trees, a Koi pond with a waterfall, comfortable benches and of course, gorgeous butterflies and moths. Many of the colorful butterflies glide by visitors, but some also land on them and hitch a ride. The butterflies come to Butterfly Wonderland from butterfly farms around the world.

The Conservatory resembles a tropical paradise.

The butterflies vary in size and color from large, vibrant Blue Morpho butterflies to smaller monarch butterflies. Occasionally visitors spot an Atlas Moth or a Luna Moth resting on a tropical tree or vine. After checking to make sure no butterflies are hitchhiking, visitors leave the Conservatory and go through the Cafe on their way to the Live Ant Colony, Honey Bee Extravaganza and other exhibits containing desert inhabitants like the giant centipede, funnel web spider and bark scorpion.

A Blue Morpho rests along the path in the Conservatory.

 The Harvester Ant Habitat shows the ants busy at work. The exhibit gives an example of a “modern ant farm” and an “old school ant farm.” A placard on the wall lists questions and answers about harvester ants.

An Atlas Moth hangs on one of the trees in the Conservatory.

Another amazing exhibit contains honey bees under glass. The worker bees make honey in the honey combs, and a green dot marks the queen bee in the midst of all the bees. A clear, glass tube allows the worker bees to venture outside to collect nectar and pollen. Visitors watch the entire procedure and look out a window to see the bees outside.

Honey bees work behind glass in their exhibit.

Another room contains aquariums housing Amazon fish and a Touch Tank where visitors see and gently touch Motoro stingrays. A volunteer encourages and supervises visitors in how to touch stingrays. He also answers questions on the stingrays and the Amazon fish.

The Giant Gourami is one of the Amazon fish in the aquariums at Butterfly Wonderland.

As visitors exit the aquariums, they enter the Butterfly Treasures Gift Shop. It contains everything butterfly along with other gifts associated with the Butterfly Wonderland experience.

© 2013 Janice Semmel