In preparation for its new Butterfly Rainforest theme, the Florida Museum of Natural History has wrangled a selection of butterflies for visitors to see.
On Sunday, the museum, located at 3215 Hull Road, unveiled the Ranching and Wrangling theme, which will run through June 30. The theme is intended to educate visitors on the importance of studying butterflies from different regions.
“We hope that it will affect them in a positive way, because they will get to receive an education about the process that we use in the museum and the Butterfly Rainforest of bringing in butterflies from around the world,” said Elizabeth Brown, the museum’s marketing and public relations assistant.
During butterfly releases, workers, now called ranchers, give 10-minute lectures to visitors on why drawing in butterflies from various areas is important to natural habitats.
“Buying butterflies internationally supports the industry, supports butterfly farming, which in turn supports conservation of those natural habitats,” said Ryan Fessenden, the assistant manager of the Butterfly Rainforest.
The previous theme, “Mimicry, the Art of Deception,” showed how butterflies have learned to survive in their environments.
Butterflies are released daily at 2 p.m., with additional releases at 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. on the weekends. Hours will be extended to 7 p.m. every Friday in July as part of the museum’s Creative B Movie Series.
