One of the city's more unusual and enchanting museum exhibits returns this weekend–a display of free-flying butterflies. NY1's Ruschell Boone got a sneak peek.
There is a flutter of activity at the American Museum of Natural History. From the rare to the colorful and the beautiful, hundreds of butterflies are spreading their wings inside this new tropical exhibit.
"We have them from Thailand, Malaysia, Australia, Ecuador, Africa and right here in the U.S.," said Hazel Davies, Director of Living Exhibits at the museum.
More than 500 butterflies and 130 different species are being shown at the Tropical Butterflies Alive in Winter exhibit. It shows every stage of their lifecycle, from cocoons to their metamorphosis.
"It's a really immersive experience. You can get very close to the butterflies. Quite often they will land on you," Davies said.
That’s one of the attractions of this popular exhibit, now in its 18th year. Another is the bird’s-eye view of how butterflies really function.
"One interesting fact is that they have the senses, all five senses that we do, but they taste with their feet," Davies said. "They have chemoreceptors, so when they land on plants, they can taste what kind of plant they've landed on, and they don't have a nose, but they smell with their antennae–he two sticks that you can see coming out of the head."
And like bees, butterflies are also very important to the ecosystem.
"Butterflies and moths are very important ecologically. They are the second pollinators after bees, so they are very important to pollinating a lot of different plants," Davies said.
The Butterfly Conservatory opens for the first time at 10 a.m. Saturday, and the exhibit runs through May 30.
For more information, visit amnh.org.