The last cocoon has opened.
Amid flashes of brilliant color and the flutter of delicate wings, the Brookfield Zoo has taken the wraps off its summer-long tribute to that aerial ambassador of pollen and poetry, the butterfly.
And suddenly the number of Chicago institutions vying to draw the viewing public to live butterfly exhibits has grown to three. The Field Museum opened its salute to everybody’s favorite insect in May, and shortly before that, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum refitted its permanent live butterfly habitat, the Judy Istock Butterfly Haven, to include exotic species from throughout the world — a plus that the Field Museum and Brookfield are federally prohibited from matching.
“What’s taking place is really a renaissance, of sorts, because we’ve gone from killing and collecting butterflies in the past to simply observing them today,” says Doug Taron, biology curator at the Nature Museum.
Given the maturation of pupa love into a full-grown, fluttering frenzy in Chicago, the time seems right for us to review these exhibits. But first a few words on the subject of butterflies.
It isn’t often that three of our major institutions have exhibitions that compete so directly for our attention. But if all three venues are trying to drink from the same trough — or perhaps more aptly, flower garden — those in the know argue that there are more than enough butterfly fanciers to go around.
“We each have different audiences, and everyone benefits because it encourages more people to get interested,” says Amy Bodwell, manager of public programs at Brookfield, whose “Butterflies” show opened on June 20 and is to run until Sept. 16. The Field Museum’s exhibit, “Living Colors: A Butterfly Garden,” runs until Sept. 3.
Meanwhile, Jane Ballentine, director of public affairs for the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, says all three institutions should enjoy plenty of success because live butterflies are “hot” across the U.S. as exhibits.
“It’s something we’ve been noticing for several years now,” Ballentine said. “More and more, zoos, botanical gardens and museums are getting into this, and the public is responding.”
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And Nature Museum officials, who have made their beautiful, glass-enclosed Istock haven a showcase exhibit ever since they opened their new Lincoln Park museum several years ago, take the friendly competition as a compliment. “I like to think of all this as simply a matter of butterflies coming into their own,” says Taron, one of the leading experts on the insect genus known as Lepidoptera.
However, the Nature Museum has met the outside challenges by escalating its inventory of butterflies to include more exotic species from outside North America — a move Brookfield and the Field Museum can’t make because their temporary facilities meet U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines only for domestic species.
The USDA requires strict containment for non-native butterflies, to prevent propagation of troublesome pests and diseases in the manner of Asian long-horned beetles and gypsy moths. This required the Nature Museum to spend several hundred thousand dollars to properly seal entry and exit doors, as well as install forced-air curtains to keep the butterflies from hitchhiking out of the haven aboard visitors’ backs.
Butterfly exhibits take flight
In point of fact, Chicago is something of a Johnny-come-lately when it comes to butterflies. Permanent exhibits similar to the Nature Museum’s, with inventories that come, in many cases, from breeding farms in Florida, Texas and other southern locations, were already up in numerous museums and zoos in the U.S. before the Istock was built. These include facilities in Milwaukee; Columbia, S.C.; San Diego; Dallas; Hershey, Pa.; Houston; Dayton, Ohio; Denver; Washington, D.C.; and New York.
In Oklahoma City, the local municipal zoo is in the path of thousands of Monarch butterflies that annually migrate south in the winter, then north in the spring. Their arrival twice a year becomes an event to be celebrated. Even Branson, Mo., where natural sciences wouldn’t seem to be on a list of attractions for visitors, has a butterfly aviary as a tourist stop.
Why are butterflies, which have been right under — and occasionally on — our noses all along, suddenly growing in popularity? The variety of gorgeous colors and designs on the different species’ wings attract many of us like, well, moths to a flame.
But Bodwell thinks it also has much to do with butterflies’ short and simple life spans that can range from several weeks to seven months — and what child hasn’t marveled at the story of how the ugly caterpillar blossoms into a beautiful butterfly? This makes it easier for everyone to identify and follow their cycles.
There is also the growing interest in our natural environment. Butterflies are “eco-friendly,” says Becky Malone, who works in Brookfield’s education department and helps supervise the zoo’s new exhibit. “Some species are endangered and that’s always a reason for some people to get interested,” she said.
Evidence for this concern is the Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network, a statewide group of clubs that — in the manner of bird-watching organizations — has been formed to observe the patterns of butterflies in their natural habitats. Taron said the group has gone from monitoring seven sites in 1987 to a current total of 63.
But Malone, after making some firsthand observations of visitors going through the Brookfield exhibit shortly after its opening, has another idea why they’re popular. “People can interact with butterflies, and they can’t do that with other creatures,” she said. “They’re completely harmless. People love it when they land on them.”
A cottage industry — books, educational outreach classes, butterfly houses to hang in the back yard and specialized plants such as milkweed, fennel and dill to attract them — has sprung up around butterflies. And it’s entirely appropriate that interest is taking off in Illinois, considering that our official state insect is the Monarch.
Next month the Illinois Audubon Society will sponsor its first-ever Butterfly Garden Tour, a visit to gardens in the Chicago area that feature the perennials and other plants that attract butterflies. There are more than 60 such gardens in the six-county region.
Meanwhile, the best way to get started — and become enthused — about the study of butterflies is through visits to the Nature Museum, Brookfield or the Field Museum. So let’s take a closer a look at the three exhibits.
Brookfield Zoo
The first thing to consider when taking in an exhibit of butterflies in a natural setting is this: the weather.
If it’s cloudy, damp or cool, it’s going to be an uneventful visit and you might as well save your money because butterflies prefer to cling to their perches in these conditions. It’s no better for humans in the zoo’s exhibit, as rain can quickly turn the gravel pathways in this 80-foot-by-36-foot, screened-in garden into a muddy mess.
Brookfield’s exhibit is stocked with common breeds such as Monarchs, Buckeyes, Red Admirals and Zebra Long Wings, but handy materials that would help visitors identify them as they walked through the garden weren’t ready in the opening days of the show. Nonetheless, there were plenty of knowledgeable staffers on hand to answer questions, and a “Who’s Flying Today” chart is posted to give the public help with what they’re seeing.
This exhibit is a good starting spot for anyone remotely interested in butterflies. It is impossible to walk through here and not feel the enthusiasm generated by kids, especially when a specimen lands on one of them.
And there’s always the gift shop at the end of the garden, where more extensive educational materials, plus other souvenirs starting at $1, are available.
Field Museum
The lakefront museum is an old hand at butterflies. In addition to the permanent collection of preserved specimens that have been inside the facility’s cases as long as anyone can remember, the Field Museum had a live, seasonal exhibit in the summer of 1998 in a temporary facility outside the south entrance.
That’s where the latest display is housed, and the experience of the Field Museum’s curators shows.
The outdoor sounds of birds and small animals are piped into the 5,800-square-foot, screen-enclosed garden, and the foliage, combined with benches for resting, can turn a stroll through this garden into a pleasant stop, whether or not you care for butterflies. A slight tint to the screens encompassing the area even helps to cut the glare of a hot summer sun.
Visitors can pick up large, plastic sheets with colorfully illustrated pictures of the butterflies to help identify what they are seeing as they go through the garden. These guides are available in English and Spanish — and there’s even help for the horticulturally challenged: The butterfly-friendly plants are labeled, which is particularly helpful for people wishing to start their own garden.
In a specially designated area, butterfly cocoons, or chrysalises, are carefully hung from racks by museum naturalists and, if visitors are lucky, they’ll see a butterfly emerge. This occurs almost daily.
The museum’s regular gift shop is especially well-stocked with a good selection of books, including Peterson Field Guides, for all levels of interest.
If visitors aren’t careful, they might pick up an unexpected souvenir: There is a large mirror at the garden exit to check for butterflies that may be clinging to your body as you leave.
Nature Museum
The Judy Istock Butterfly Haven, with its sunny, glass-enclosed tropical-like environment, is, for starters, a butterfly photographer’s dream. The controlled atmosphere is perfect for taking pictures of the colorful, rare species and camera-wielding visitors are sure to be found.
The Nature Museum’s exhibit is even more attractive now that it has added non-indigenous specimens, mostly from Central and South America. Up to 112 new species are to be rotated into the mix, including more exotic Blue Morphos, Rice Paper butterflies, Orange Lacewing, Clippers and Owl butterflies, which, with their large wingspans (up to 6 inches) and unusual brown, yellow and blue colorings, seemed to be especially popular during my visits.
But the best place to start a visit is not in the haven itself, where the butterflies are located. You’re better off beginning in the butterfly information center — a room in which most people conclude their stop — because here you can learn everything necessary about the insects to make a trip even more meaningful.
This information center is full of interactive terminals, maps and samples. The most complex as well as simple questions can be answered here. Q: Do butterflies bite? A: No. They have no teeth or jaws. Q: How high can butterflies fly? A: Airplane pilots have spotted migrating Monarchs at 11,000 feet.
Once you are inside the haven, there is information posted to help you identify the butterflies. But, with no materials available to carry during your visit (at least on my stops), visitors may find themselves darting back and forth to the charts to confirm what they’re seeing.
“Butterflies”
(through Sept. 16)
Brookfield Zoo, 3300 Golf Rd., Brookfield (708-485-0263)
What: By the time the exhibit closes, as many as 30 domestic species (the Queens, Tiger Swallowtails and Zebra Long Wings are the most colorful now) will ply the 3,000-square-foot, screened-in garden.
Cost: Regular zoo admission ($7 adults, $3.50 for seniors and kids 3-11) plus $2.50 for adults, $1.50 for seniors and kids.
Winging it: The occasional sounds of lions, baboons and peacocks in nearby quarters adds a realistic touch to the natural setting for the garden (unlike the Field Museum and its recording of bird and small animal sounds piped into its butterfly exhibit).
“Living Colors: A Butterfly Garden”
(Through Sept. 3)
Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago (312-922-9410)
What: Up to 35 domestic species will appear in this 5,800-square-foot, screened-in garden before it closes and now is a good time for viewing the Orange Julia, Cloudless Sulphur, Orange-Barred Sulphur and Black Swallowtails.
Cost: Regular museum admission ($8 for adults, $4 for seniors, kids 3-11 and students with IDs) plus $6 for adults, $4 for kids and $5 for seniors and students.
Winging it: A good follow-up to the garden is a visit to the permanent displays of more exotic, but dead, butterflies inside the museum, where approximately 35,000 species are housed.
Judy Istock Butterfly Haven (permanent)
Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, 2430 N. Cannon Drive, Chicago (773-755-7100)
What: This is the only place to go to find rare, non-indigenous butterflies, which have been cycled into the remodeled 2,700-square-foot, three-story greenhouse since May. The most impressive at this time are the Blue Morpho (with up to a 6-inch wingspan) from Central and South America, the Owl (also from Central and South America) with distinctive brown, blue and yellow colorings and the Greater Egg Fly from Asia and Australia, which loves to land on humans.
Cost: Regular museum admission ($6 adults, $4 seniors and students, $3 kids) only.
Winging it: If you develop a real appetite on your visit, there’s always the museum’s Butterfly Cafe, which offers inside and outside seating. No insects on the menu, however.
— Mike Conklin
