Attention, nature lovers: here’s your opportunity to spend a day getting up close and personal with hundreds of butterflies.
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County’s Butterfly Pavilion, which is open for a few months in the spring and summer, is a chance to learn about all sorts of butterflies. Why do we need them? Are they really that delicate? And how does a caterpillar turn into a butterfly?
On “Do You Work Here?” KNX News’ Mike Simpson took a trip to the pavilion and caught up with Lisa Gonzalez. She’s the museum’s program manager of living invertebrates, but you can call her “Bug Lady.”
“It started when I was really little, actually, before I even remember. My mom said I was one of those kids who was always digging through the dirt, always picking up bugs,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said the museum releases a few hundred butterflies into the enclosed pavilion every week. They come from all over North America, but many are California natives.
“We constantly are replenishing the pavilion with butterflies because most of the butterflies that you see, once they reach adulthood, are only going to live for a few weeks,” she said.
The butterflies are shipped from butterfly farms in Costa Rica, Belize, and the U.S. while they’re still in the chrysalis. Once they reach the pavilion, they mature and spread their wings.
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To hear more about the butterfly’s life cycle – and why they’re so important – listen to the full episode above. And if you want to check out the Butterfly Pavilion for yourself, it’s open until Aug. 25.
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