Last weekend, in between hurricanes, I headed to the new Butterfly Rainforest at Florida's Natural History Museum. Being brand new, and the first weekend in a month not riddled with rain, it was crowded. In fact, one hour or so before it closed, the line to get in was still quite long. The rainforest is a screened-in enclosure on the back of the museum and begins high with a winding path through thick flowered vegetation and several waterfalls and streams.

Very beautiful and well done, and the day was perfect. The caretakers collect any eggs from the rainforest, raise the caterpillars in the lab, and collect the pupaes in a hatching rack with multi-level boards. They collect the new butterflies and release them each day, which we got to see.

Below are my best pictures...


Stalking from the leaves.


Laying eggs (not a great picture, but good illustration)


It strikes me that this one looks fast without even moving.

I love the bold colors here.


Releasing the butterflies - you can see one to the left of his head. Some of them would not come out--they can be very stubborn little things.


The soft colors here really got my attention. This kind was very friendly, stayed around the crowds, and could sometimes be picked up. Others we never saw for more than a second.


This, I think, is going to be an 8x10!


Calla lily from one of the waterfalls.

A mating pair.


This kind was hard to find settled, but I love the down-swing of the wings.


The Maguire Center (Butterfly Rainforest).
And finally, not from Gainesville but from my own backyard...


Grown from seed... a bright spot with all the rain.