As the heat of summer days slowly cool towards autumn, we welcome University of Florida students back to campus and into the the Butterfly Rainforest, filled with fluttering butterflies, birds, and blooming flowers. UF students get in free to our paid exhibits with their GatorOne cards! (More info on our Plan Your Visit page.)
This season was bright and sunny! Wandering through the ever-changing living ecosystem, you may have spotted the delicate exhibit residents resting on the equally colorful begonia flowers when they bloomed. We were especially excited to host several vibrantly colored Painted Beauty butterflies this season!
You might need to look closely to spot one of the many species of Leafwing butterflies whose closed wings are camouflaged to look like dead leaves. Stick around and watch them fly to see the vibrant colors on the upper sides of their open wings. Are they blue, orange, red, black, or a pearly white? Use our online guide to identify the species!
While exploring the exhibit see if you can find one of our feeding stations. Our exhibit keepers fill these spots with fresh cut fruit for the tropical butterflies. You may see a Blue Spotted Charaxes snacking on a banana.
The Butterfly Rainforest usually contains several dozen butterfly and moth species at any given time with a continuously changing population of different species. The flowering plants in the exhibit change regularly also, so you never know what you may spot!
Did you know that we have two streaming web cams that you can view anytime? Mounted high above the tree tops, the Canopy Cam provides a true bird’s eye view of the Butterfly Rainforest. Or you can check the Chrysalis Cam to see inside our rearing lab. Watch closely as you may see new adult butterflies emerge.
Many thanks to keeper Ingrith for sharing her photos with us while she and the team work to keep the exhibit lush for guests and residents.