Feature:
Exhibition Showcases Beauty & Fragility
“Their journey begins thousands of
kilometers from Montreal, on fair-trade farms in
Costa Rica, the Philippines & Tanzania.
Packed in Styrofoam boxes, covered
with a protective layer of cotton, tiny butterfly chrysalises have been
arriving at Pierre Elliott International
Airport…in preparation for the
Butterflies Go Free exhibition at Montreal’s
Botanical Garden…
The chrysalis- a butterfly in the
stage between caterpillar & butterfly- is in the spotlight at this year’s
exhibit, said Sonya Charest, educational programs coordinator at the
Insectarium.
Exactly what happens inside their
fragile shells remains a mystery…Some aspects are known- hormones cause &
control the development of the butterfly. Its flight muscles, digestive system,
heart, & reproductive system reorganize & develop within the chrysalis…
Once at the Insectarium, each
chrysalis is attached to a cedar plank with a drop of hot glue. The planks,
each holding several hanging chrysalises, are then put inside one of 8 cages in
a greenhouse at the Insectarium, where they eventually emerge as butterflies.
By the time the exhibition
closes…Insectarium employees will have cared for between 18,000 & 20,000
chrysalises…
Once the butterflies emerge, they
are put into warmed containers & driven a few hundred metres through the
winter air to the large greenhouse where the exhibition is located.
By mid-March, there will be between
75 & 80 species of butterflies in the Butterflies Go Free exhibit. At any
given time, visitors will be able to see- 1,500 & 2,000 butterflies in the
greenhouse…
It’s a popular exhibition- since
1998, more than 1.8 million people have visited Butterflies Go free…”
Monique
Beaudin
The Montreal Gazette
Feb.
22/2014
Cute Critter Pic
Weekly Chuckle
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