Arts & Entertainment
Blue Morphos Butterflies Land Near Hazelwood
The creatures are the subject of a new exhibit at the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House in St. Louis.
In one stride, visitors to the in Chesterfield go from a low humidity temperate zone to a steamy tropical jungle.
A fairyland of dancing, vibrant colors—both butterflies and blooms—bursts on the inside of the Butterfly House’s 7,900-square-foot Tropical Conservatory, located about 15 miles west of Clayton and Richmond Heights.
Blue Morphos are the stars of the March Morpho Mania exhibit that began Thursday. The exhibit features thousands of them, swelling the Butterfly House ranks to 3,000 or so butterflies representing 60 to 100 of the 18,000 species worldwide, according to Mark Deering, director of the Butterfly House.
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But the facility is more than bright colors and entertaining entomology.
"We’re really hoping most people who come here walk away with a little more knowledge than what they came in with," Deering said. "The plan is to help people get a better appreciation of the natural world, in hopes that they’ll see the worth in preserving what’s around them.”
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Other offerings at the Butterfly House? Spiders, scorpions, beetles, walking sticks, mantises and cockroaches.
The Butterfly House is located at 15193 Olive Blvd. in Chesterfield's Faust Park. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and will extend to 5 p.m. from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
Admission is $6 for adults, $4.50 for seniors, $4 children 3-12, and free for both Missouri Botanical Garden members and kids 2 and under. More information is available by calling 636-530-0076.