If they get there early enough in the mornings, visitors are able to see butterflies emerge from their chrysalises and fly free in the Insectarium, run by the city of Montreal. The Insectarium is importing between 18,000 and 20,000 chrysalises from fair-trade butterfly farms in the Philippines, Tanzania and Costa Rica.
They are packed in cotton and place in insulated carrying cases that protect them from extreme temperatures. Timing is important so that the butterflies don’t emerge while still in the cases.
‘A daunting task’
“It’s quite a daunting task,” says Maxim Larrivée, head of the Insectarium’s research and collections department. Staff members are called to pick up the cases from the airport at all times of the day. Once they arrive at the Insectarium, the chrysalises are carefully unpacked and the tiny silk thread that is attached to them is glued onto planks of wood in cages, to mimic their situation in nature.
Some of the chrysalises look like dead leaves. Others look golden or platinum, like jewels, says Larrivée observing that the iridescence serves to fool predators.
“You never get tired of watching butterflies emerge from their chrysalis. It’s such a beautiful event,” he says. It takes about five or ten minutes for the butterfly to break through, then it pumps liquid through all of its veins to fill out its wings. It then hangs upside down waiting for the wings to dry before it starts to fly.
Butterflies flit among visitors
About 2,000 butterflies flit about the greenhouse on any given day during the ten-week exhibition. They are attracted to flowers in the greenhouse and fruit which are put out for them. The butterfly exhibition has become the most popular event at the Insectarium. Last year 160,000 people came to see it.
Hothouse a relief from winter
“People love it,” says Larrivée noting that children can visit during the week-long school break that occurs in March. He adds people like to come to the greenhouse just as they tire of the long winter and long for spring.
“The timing allows people to have this great experience where you emerge from winter and go and bathe in tropical temperatures and tropical butterflies, and really reconnect with this nature that’s been in hiding all winter. People from all over really appreciate it.”
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