Photography Courtesy The Butterfly House
Butterfly House entomology lab
For years, workers at the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House in Chesterfield have kept track of the questions asked most frequently by guests. Queries such as “Where do butterflies come from?” and “What is a chrysalis?” top the list. So as Missouri Botanical Garden officials began making plans for renovating and expanding the facility’s on-site entomology lab, they used that list as a guide for how to create a dynamic and fulfilling visitor experience.
“We decided to let our visitors help us drive what the content was going to be for the signage and the interactives based off of years of experience,” Butterfly House Director Jennifer Mullix says. “We wanted to answer some of those questions with some fun exhibits and, at the same time, bring to the forefront some of the awesome work that our entomologists are doing behind the scenes.”
Visitors will get their first chance to explore the newly-expanded entomology lab and all of its bug science programming during a grand opening ceremony at the Butterfly House on Saturday. General admission will be free from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., though advanced reservations are required. The lab’s opening is the result of a three-year, $600,000 project funded in part by a grant received last August from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Not only will the new-look lab offer guests a glimpse into what goes into the care and cultivation of the Butterfly House’s diverse living insect collection, it will feature diagrams and visuals that will better illustrate the four stages of the butterfly lifecycle, the differences between butterflies and moths, and the international journey butterflies take to arrive at the Butterfly House, among other exhibits.
“The insect and invertebrate world is so fascinating,” Mullix says. “So much of it is unknown to the common man. Having this new lab gives us a unique opportunity here in St. Louis to be the place that people can come learn all about that. The lab will allow us to break down that barrier between the behind the scenes work and our guest experience, so we’re really excited to be able to do that with this new exhibit.”
Mullix says visitors to the Butterfly House won’t be able to miss the new-look lab, the expansion of which extended it toward the tropical conservatory. Inside the public portion of the lab, guests will also be able to peer through large windows and watch scientists and volunteers handle butterflies and other insects behind the scenes.
“Our staff really enjoys being able to show off what they do,” Mullix says. “When our guests interact with our entomologists, they’ll learn things they never knew.”
