Their splendor and amazing lifecycle make butterflies everyone’s favorite insect. You can experience butterflies up-close and personal for a few more days at Mosquito Hill Nature Center’s Butterfly House. This popular exhibit is open Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Aug. 28. A nominal $1 per person donation is asked to help defray the operating expenses of the house.
“Our cool, wet spring really delayed the emergence of butterflies this year”, said Mosquito Hill director Mike Hibbard. “But our patience has paid off. This past week we saw literally hundreds of monarch butterflies emerge from their chrysalids and visitors are being treated to an explosion of orange and black.”
In addition to the butterfly house, visitors can view the butterfly nursery to observe how butterflies are reared for release into the house and witness the miracle of metamorphosis. Before you depart be sure to check out the wide selection of butterfly inspired items available in the butterfly house bookstore. Purchases support educational opportunities at the nature center.
For more information about Butterfly House, call 920-779-6433 or e-mail [email protected].
Tagging Monarchs aids in research
A monarch butterfly tagging event for all ages will be held at Mosquito Hill Nature Center at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 3. The monarch butterfly, with its colorful orange and black pattern, has the distinction of being the only butterfly in the world that migrates vast distances to its wintering grounds.
Participants will learn how safely handle and tag monarchs, and have the opportunity to catch them from the wild or collect them from the center’s butterfly house. Tracking tagged individuals allows researchers to learn more about behavior, life span, and migration routes, some as long as two thousand miles.
The cost is $6/person or $10/family, with registration and payment due Aug. 27. Call the center at 920-779-6433 to register, or visit www.mosquitohill.com for more details. Mosquito Hill Nature center is located two miles east of New London off County Highway S at the end of Rogers Road.