New butterfly exhibit to open at the Maritime Aquarium - CT Insider

An array of butterflies are ready to greet visitors who walk through the doors of the Maritime Aquarium's new exhibit. It could be a Caligo, known for its owl-eye looking mark on the outside of its wings and a bold blue inside, or a migrant Monarch. The colorful insects native to Latin America fly around from wall to wall, landing on the plants surrounding the walking path.

"Flutter Zone" visitors will be able to mingle with up to 20 varieties of butterflies from Central and South America. The exhibit will be available from May 28 through Sept. 5 and is free with the Aquarium admission, according to a press release. 

"There's really nothing more magical than immersing yourself in a space that's alive with beautiful ethereal butterflies," said Tom Frankie, Exhibits Director of the Maritime Aquarium, in a press release. 

The walk-through exhibit looks to teach guests about butterflies, their contribution to the Earth's environment and the importance of their conservation.

To populate the exhibit, the aquarium receives shipments from Costa Rican butterfly farms. Each shipment comes with 300 butterfly caterpillars, according to Rachel Stein, Associated Director of Animal Husbrandy at the aquarium. 

Colorful plastic butterflies on the walls of the aquarium guide visitors out to the exhibit. As guests walk outside, before they get to the arboretum, they will encounter a small shed with a window that shows how butterflies transform from caterpillars in real time. 

"It's wonderful to be able to invite our guests outside again to the courtyard and to take in the natural beauty along the Norwalk River," Frankie said. 

While the aquarium has had butterfly exhibits in the past, "Flutter Zone" is looking to emphazise the agricultural importance of pollinators, such as butterflies and moths, and their role fertilizing plants used in the humans' diets. 

The display will also delve into the effects of climate change on the butterfly population, which has declined in the last 15 years, according to the aquarium. 

As visitors make their way around the arboretums, butterflies will fly around them and may even land on them. The exhibit is also filled with colorful plants that provide food for the butterflies and inhibit reproduction, since the aquarium doesn't have permission to breed non-native butterflies.

"Most of the butterflies like to feed off of nectar and other ones like fruit," said Stein. In between the exhibit's plants, the staff places very ripe fruit so butterflies can eat, she added.

The new butterfly exhibit will be the first outdoor exhibit in the last couple of summers since the Maritime Aquarium was previously constructing the expansion of its seal habitat, "Pinniped Cove." The 160,000-gallon exhibit opened last year and it's now the aquarium's largest indoor display.