![]() “And you can see the variety,” added Baker, as she pointed out some of the differences among the chrysalises. It’s unusual for people to be able to see that hatching process because at other places they are kept in back or isolated areas, but here at Botanica you get to watch the hatching process,” Smith said. I glue their little bottoms to tissue paper and that’s how I pin them up,” Baker said, pointing to the chrysalises that were dangling from rods within the hatching station.ĭisplayed at the back of the Butterfly House, the hatching station is one of the features that separates Botanica’s Butterfly House from others found elsewhere, according to Baker and Botanica’s community engagement coordinator Nikki Smith. “They are shipped overnight by FedEx, and I have to drop whatever I’m doing in the gardens and immediately get them to start getting them out of the box. Besides Malone’s farm in Wichita, farms in Florida also supply Botanica with the pupas. Botanica brings in about 150 to 300 chrysalises every week to keep the Butterfly House populated with insects from late May to August. This year he became vice president of the International Butterfly Breeders Association.īecause the Butterfly House is a controlled environment -kept relatively free from predators like wasps and ants and providing plenty of nectar-rich plants like lantana and penta - Botanica’s indoor butterflies can live a little longer than the normal two- or three-week lifespan. He started raising butterflies in 2019 when he was working as a gardener at Botanica and now is one of the regular suppliers for Botanica. Malone, who runs the Hatchery Butterfly Farm in his backyard in the Riverside area, is supplying most of the live butterflies for Saturday’s release. Those activities are included in the regular Botanica admission. The Flint Hills Fairies troupe, the Riverside Music Together center and local butterfly farmer Ryan Malone will be there, along with a photo booth, craft-making stations and educational activities. as the botanical garden celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Butterfly House.
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