{"id":37536,"date":"2016-03-15T17:35:51","date_gmt":"2016-03-15T22:35:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=37536"},"modified":"2016-03-15T17:35:51","modified_gmt":"2016-03-15T22:35:51","slug":"tropical-butterflies-swarm-around-you-in-one-winter-spot-of-chicago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/tropical-butterflies-swarm-around-you-in-one-winter-spot-of-chicago\/","title":{"rendered":"Tropical butterflies swarm around you in one winter spot of Chicago"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Chencheng Zhao<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hundreds of butterflies clad in wings of every shade glided across the serene pools and landed on flowers and tropical trees while Orange-breasted Waxbills and Green Honeycreepers watched them. This isn\u2019t a tropical rain forest but the Butterfly Haven at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum where visitors pack the haven for the release of butterflies.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Walking through the haven set visitors free from the hustle and bustle of the city.<\/p>\n

Brian Israel of Chicago said he accompanies his mom to the haven every year. She loves animals, and he wants to bring her to them as often as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re so lovely. I wish they could stop,\u201d\u00a0 said Vi, Israel’s mom, reaching out her hand from the wheelchair.<\/p>\n

It is the first time Chicago composer Zachary Gordon visited the haven. Gordon relaxed, calmed by the surroundings of nature. \u201cWhen in the city, you don\u2019t see a lot of nature. You just want to get out of the house and do something different.\u201d Gordon said.<\/p>\n

Marketing exdecutive Leila Goldberg revisited the haven with her six-month-old baby Stephen. \u201cLook at this beautiful little thing!\u201d Goldberg said, taking the boy\u2019s hand and pointing it at a butterfly basking on a flower. Goldberg said the haven is a good place to explore, particularly good for the baby who is starting to build his visual curiosity and perception.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a very self-contained space,\u201d said Robert Wells, of visitor services. \u201cAnd the cycle of nature takes care of itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plants refresh the air and lock in moisture. The flying birds feed on fruit, nectar and seeds while the ground dwelling ones feed on ants, roaches and, yes, dead butterflies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are our groundkeepers and pest control,\u201d Wells said, looking at a Chinese quail strolling under the bush, looking for butterfly bodies.<\/p>\n

Wells said the 2,700 square-foot greenhouse is equipped with watering and heating system that automatically adjusts the environment around the clock.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you hear the clunk? It is the misters turned on, showering water vapor.\u201d Wells said, pointing to the pipes and sprinklers on the ceiling.<\/p>\n

Because all the birds and butterflies are from tropical areas, they like things warm and humid \u201480 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit with 20 to 30 percent moisture.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_1904\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Lawrance releases an adult Great Egg Fly in the haven.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"IMG_1893\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Water vapor showers down from the ceiling to keep the haven “tropical.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"IMG_1912\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Butterflies may try to hitchhike out of the haven on your jacket. Check for them in the mirror before you leave and gently brush them off if they seem ready to leave with you. <\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"IMG_1829\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Vi, 91, and (at front) Leila Goldberg and her baby son Stephen enjoy nature in the butterfly haven. <\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"IMG_1911\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
The natural environments in the haven attract lots of butterflies and lots of visitors.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"IMG_1874\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
A Chinese quail strolling under the bush, looking for butterfly bodies.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n

\u201cThere is no native species here right now,\u201d said Allen Lawrance, living invertebrate specialist at Peggy Notebaert. He introduced some of about 45-50 butterflies species present,\u00a0 all coming from tropical area \u2014 Rice Paper, Scarlet Mormon and Clipper from Malaysia; Great Egg Fly from Australia; and Tawny Owl, Tiger Longwing and Red Cracker from Costa Rica.<\/p>\n

Lawrance said butterflies can be seen in the tropical area all the year round. But they are warm weather when flying in Chicago. \u201cNo butterfly can endure a Chicago winter in its active stage,\u201d Lawrance explained. Most survive by hibernating. Each hibernating species spends the winter during a specific stage of its life cycle \u2014either egg, larva pupa or adult. The Monarch \u2014unique among North American butterflies \u2014survives by migrating thousands of miles south. Others, such as the Painted Ladies, don\u2019t survive at all. They die off each winter, replaced the following spring by new Painted Ladies that migrate in from farther south.<\/p>\n

However, the museum has its own migration pattern for bringing butterflies north.<\/p>\n

Wells said instead of breeding butterflies, the museum purchase chrysalises from butterfly farms around the world. Suppliers raise the butterflies from egg to chrysalises, then pack them in boxes and ship them to the museum overnight. Each week, the haven receives several shipments.<\/p>\n

Upon arrival, staff unpack the chrysalises and hang them up in the lab. Wells said it takes about two to three weeks for the butterflies to emerge.<\/p>\n

Butterflies are released into the haven at 2 p.m. every day, Lawrance said.<\/p>\n

At the exit stands a big mirror, with the sign: \u201cPlease leave all butterflies inside of the Butterfly Haven.\u201d Visitors check themselves in the mirror when they leave the haven, gently brushing off any hitchhikers. Wells explained the haven holds tight security for these immigrants, according to U.S. department of agriculture\u2019s limitation on exotic animals.<\/p>\n

Let nature take its course here. These exotic beauties belong to the haven.<\/p>\n

\"ngo-impact-report-5\"<\/p>\n

Photo at top: A Rice Paper butterfly enjoys the honey water in the haven. (Chencheng Zhao\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Chencheng Zhao Hundreds of butterflies clad in wings of every shade glided across the serene pools and landed on flowers and tropical trees while Orange-breasted Waxbills and Green Honeycreepers watched them. This isn\u2019t a tropical rain forest but the Butterfly Haven at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum where visitors pack the haven for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":274,"featured_media":38085,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194,28,29,585],"tags":[2363,2364,2365,192,2366],"class_list":["post-37536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-general-interest","category-health-and-science","category-winter-2016","tag-butterflies","tag-caterpillars","tag-peggy-notebaert-museum","tag-promo","tag-s"],"yoast_head":"\nTropical butterflies swarm around you in one winter spot of Chicago - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/tropical-butterflies-swarm-around-you-in-one-winter-spot-of-chicago\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tropical butterflies swarm around you in one winter spot of Chicago - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Chencheng Zhao Hundreds of butterflies clad in wings of every shade glided across the serene pools and landed on flowers and tropical trees while Orange-breasted Waxbills and Green Honeycreepers watched them. This isn\u2019t a tropical rain forest but the Butterfly Haven at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum where visitors pack the haven for the […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/tropical-butterflies-swarm-around-you-in-one-winter-spot-of-chicago\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-15T22:35:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/03\/IMG_1880.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"3264\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2448\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"chenchengzhao\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"chenchengzhao\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/tropical-butterflies-swarm-around-you-in-one-winter-spot-of-chicago\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/tropical-butterflies-swarm-around-you-in-one-winter-spot-of-chicago\/\",\"name\":\"Tropical butterflies swarm around you in one winter spot of Chicago - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/tropical-butterflies-swarm-around-you-in-one-winter-spot-of-chicago\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/tropical-butterflies-swarm-around-you-in-one-winter-spot-of-chicago\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/03\/IMG_1880.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-15T22:35:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/b9b9d3ca1fdfd9d0f462cdbf004e0ad0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/tropical-butterflies-swarm-around-you-in-one-winter-spot-of-chicago\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/tropical-butterflies-swarm-around-you-in-one-winter-spot-of-chicago\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/tropical-butterflies-swarm-around-you-in-one-winter-spot-of-chicago\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/03\/IMG_1880.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/03\/IMG_1880.jpg\",\"width\":3264,\"height\":2448},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/tropical-butterflies-swarm-around-you-in-one-winter-spot-of-chicago\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tropical butterflies swarm around you in one winter spot of Chicago\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\",\"name\":\"Medill Reports Chicago\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/b9b9d3ca1fdfd9d0f462cdbf004e0ad0\",\"name\":\"chenchengzhao\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/973c5fcad734ca7d2edde569835d91615cb306fa9886162780c777f52ecf1eb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/973c5fcad734ca7d2edde569835d91615cb306fa9886162780c777f52ecf1eb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"chenchengzhao\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/chenchengzhao\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tropical butterflies swarm around you in one winter spot of Chicago - Medill Reports Chicago","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/tropical-butterflies-swarm-around-you-in-one-winter-spot-of-chicago\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tropical butterflies swarm around you in one winter spot of Chicago - Medill Reports Chicago","og_description":"By Chencheng Zhao Hundreds of butterflies clad in wings of every shade glided across the serene pools and landed on flowers and tropical trees while Orange-breasted Waxbills and Green Honeycreepers watched them. This isn\u2019t a tropical rain forest but the Butterfly Haven at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum where visitors pack the haven for the […]","og_url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/tropical-butterflies-swarm-around-you-in-one-winter-spot-of-chicago\/","og_site_name":"Medill Reports Chicago","article_published_time":"2016-03-15T22:35:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":3264,"height":2448,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/03\/IMG_1880.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"chenchengzhao","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"chenchengzhao","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/tropical-butterflies-swarm-around-you-in-one-winter-spot-of-chicago\/","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/tropical-butterflies-swarm-around-you-in-one-winter-spot-of-chicago\/","name":"Tropical butterflies swarm around you in one winter spot of Chicago - Medill Reports Chicago","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/tropical-butterflies-swarm-around-you-in-one-winter-spot-of-chicago\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/tropical-butterflies-swarm-around-you-in-one-winter-spot-of-chicago\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/03\/IMG_1880.jpg","datePublished":"2016-03-15T22:35:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/b9b9d3ca1fdfd9d0f462cdbf004e0ad0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/tropical-butterflies-swarm-around-you-in-one-winter-spot-of-chicago\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/tropical-butterflies-swarm-around-you-in-one-winter-spot-of-chicago\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/tropical-butterflies-swarm-around-you-in-one-winter-spot-of-chicago\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/03\/IMG_1880.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/03\/IMG_1880.jpg","width":3264,"height":2448},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/tropical-butterflies-swarm-around-you-in-one-winter-spot-of-chicago\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tropical butterflies swarm around you in one winter spot of Chicago"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/","name":"Medill Reports Chicago","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/b9b9d3ca1fdfd9d0f462cdbf004e0ad0","name":"chenchengzhao","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/973c5fcad734ca7d2edde569835d91615cb306fa9886162780c777f52ecf1eb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/973c5fcad734ca7d2edde569835d91615cb306fa9886162780c777f52ecf1eb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"chenchengzhao"},"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/chenchengzhao\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/274"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}