IaxAir News, NAS Jacksonville, Thursday, February 24, 2005


 The popular Blue
 Morpho (Morpho
peleides) of Central
America sunbathes
 on a leaf to bring
 its body tempera-
 lure to 95 degress
 or higher.


 J







where science takes flight


'Allan Chin Lee, Butterfly Rainforest and Vivarium manager, points to identification photo-
'graphs in the observation room facing the Butterfly Rainforest inside the indoor exhibit.
'Visitors can enjoy the biodiversity of the rainforest without having to step outside.


yMiriam S. Gallet
Editor afx 


., -- ome of the Blue Morpho, Isa-
S\ I bella and Julia, the Butterfly
 Rainforest, a live vivarium
inside the Florida Museum of Natural
History at the University of Florida in
;Gainesville is a visitor's dream.
: visitors can enjoy a full day or an
afternoon strolling through a rainforest
supporting 55 to 65 different species of
exotic butterflies afid moths and more
'than 250 varieties of tropical and sub-
-tropical plants and beautiful waterfalls.
'Resembling something out of Michael
Crichton's The Lost World, visitors come
face-to-face with butterflies and moths
,from origins dating back more than 65
millionn years ago when dinosaurs ruled Visitors to the B
-the world, may witness the e
SLocated just 60 miles southwest of flies and moths.
'here, you can escape and explore the tured Atlas Mot
world of Lepidoptera (butterflies and their chrysalis Feb
moths iin a setting where young and old
:cap stroll through a lush rainforest and have one of the
*2,000 free-flying butterflies land on their arms, or, if lucky,
witness the emergence of one from its chrysalis inside the
:rearing room. The 6,400-square-foot rainforest enclosure,
,featuring a 65-foot angled ceiling, a 400-foot trail arid four
,waterfalls provides a setting that is uncharacteristic to
:any other type of habitat found in Florida.
 "The Butterfly Rainforest at the McGuire Center for
*Lepidoptera and Biodiversity opened its doors Aug. 14
and it has been a resounding success," explained Alan
'Chin-Lee, vivarium manager. "This is not just another
'exhibit for the museum. It is a research facility with
access to visitors."


utterfly Rainforest
emergnce of butter-
Several of the pic-
hs emerged from
.10.


Butterfly" Th e

Rainforest is
a screened
in outdoor
exhibit
which
enables the
public to be-
come famil-
iar with
exotic but-
terflies and Pamela Jessiman, amateur photographer and visitor to the Butterfly Rainforest, listens as
moths and Vivarium Manager Allan Chin Lee explains the subtropical and tropical plants and trees that
tropical and support the hundreds of species of Lepidoptera found in the Butterfly Rainforest.
sub-tropical
trees and plants and at the same time," he *'. .
added.
 The indoor exhibit features a three '.
stories high and 200 feet long "Wall of
Wings" that contains thousands of but-
terflies and moths specimens from
around the world. Large information
panels and videos describing the biology
and life cycle of butterflies and moths i P


guide the visitor through the exhibit and make the visit to
the center very educational.
 "We are the largest Lepidoptera research center in the
world and house the second-largest Lepidoptera collection,
next to the Natural Museum of History in London," said
Lee.
 "Currently, our collection holds more than 4.2 million
specimens from around the world and, it continues to
grow, explained Paul Ramey, director of public relations
at the Florida Museum of Natural History. "We encourage
visitors from everywhere, especially, the military service-


Informational signs featuring scientific information about but-
terflies and moths can be found along the winding trail and
bridges in the rainforest.


 -'IB


Life-size information panels explaining what butterflies and moths are, their metamorphosis,and wing patterns guide visitors through the exhibit.
 4 1& 0