4 Facts about Butterfly Pavilion’s Butterflies

Four Facts about Butterfly Pavilion’s Butterflies   

Butterfly Pavilion has been home to thousands of butterflies and moths since opening our doors 30 years ago! Over the years, we’ve shared their wonders with countless visitors, but there’s always more to discover. Here are four things you may not know about our Wings of the Tropics butterfly conservatory, so you can arrive next time with even more curiosity.

 1. Chrysalids vs. Cocoons
They’re not the same thing! Both are part of the amazing transformation from caterpillar to adult, but chrysalids are the hardened outer cases that protect butterflies during their pupal stage while cocoons are silk coverings spun by many (but not all) moth caterpillars to protect the pupa inside. Butterflies don’t spin anything around themselves; the chrysalis is their pupal “shell”, and some moths use leaves or soil instead of silk. At Butterfly Pavilion, the chrysalids and cocoons you see in our Chrysalis Chamber are real, and you can watch butterflies and moths emerge right in front of you when you visit our zoo.

2. Touching Butterflies Can Be Harmful

Even a light touch can rub off the delicate scales on a butterfly’s wings and can confuse them with our scents and oils. Butterfly wings are composed of thousands of tiny scales that form the pattern and colors that you see. But those scales aren’t just for looks; they help butterflies fly, stay camouflaged, attract mates, and even deter predators. To keep them safe and healthy, please enjoy butterflies with your eyes, not your hands when visiting or out in nature.

3. We Don’t Raise our Butterflies at Butterfly Pavilion

Caterpillars need large amounts of host plants to eat and grow and Butterfly Pavilion doesn’t have the space to provide that. Instead, we partner with sustainable butterfly farms around the world. These farms raise caterpillars and send us chrysalids and cocoons, which we care for until they emerge. Some of these butterflies are even raised in Sumatra, Indonesia at Butterfly Pavilion’s Ketambe Butterfly Farm!  To prevent butterfly breeding in our facility, we don’t plant host plants in Wings of the Tropics, so while butterflies may still mate, they won’t lay eggs in the conservatory. 

4. We Have to Separate Some of our Moths

When you visit, you’ll find that some of our moths are in a separate area near the chrysalis chamber. Spectacular species like the Atlas moth don’t eat as adults; they don’t even have functional mouths! Instead, they survive on the energy stored as caterpillars and spend their short adult lives focused on reproduction. To prevent them from laying eggs in Wings of the Tropics, we keep these moths in a separate space. 

Written by: Carter Chen