Adventures in Butterfly Wonderland

Sometimes, in the course of exploring Arizona with my son, I set out to try something totally foreign -- something I’m not even sure we’ll enjoy.

I'm sure you already know where this is going.

This was not one of those trips.

Kid + me + insects + cameras = heaven, pretty much.

Anyone who knows our family knows that we -- and especially my son and I -- are huge nature nerds. The more informative, the more nature-friendly; the better. So the question on our trip to the grand opening of Butterfly Wonderland wasn't if we were going to enjoy it. It was how much.

Taken by David. He's gunning for my job, I think.

The answer: A whole lot.

Butterfly Wonderland just opened May 25 in Scottsdale on Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community land, and is now the largest butterfly pavilion in America. We’re already looking forward to our next visit and to the growth of this new destination.

Plus, the residents looked so eager to see us!

It’s actually the first stage of “Odysea in the Desert,” a 522,000-square-foot entertainment complex that is planned to include the largest aquarium in the southwest, a Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum, and more. For now, it’s all about insects, and that suits us just fine, because Butterfly Wonderland makes an immersive encounter out of the experience.

Immersive to the senses, and immersed in butterflies! Here, a twin pack.

The first stop after checking in is the 3-D film Flight of the Butterflies, which follows a monarch family over multiple generations. I won’t spoil it for you except to say that it’s so well done, I almost got choked up over the insects’ fates.

Then again, we might be just a little more attached than usual to insects.

If kids are old enough to understand the information and story, they (and you) will be enthralled like we were -- and even if they’re not, it’s an absolutely gorgeous film, making use of 3-D effects to surround visitors in a swarm of monarchs taking flight, or to glide just over the “shoulder” of a single butterfly.

I know, butterflies don't really have shoulders. But didn't you ever daydream about riding those upper wings like big, fluttery shoulders when you were a kid? No? Just me?

The first stop after the movie is the Butterfly Emergence Gallery, a stage where visitors watch through a window as hundreds of butterfly chrysalises mature.



The actual moment of emergence -- a rare sight anywhere else -- is commonplace here, as butterflies enter their adult stage before our eyes.

A scarlet Mormon butterfly (Papilio deiphobus rumanzovia). 

More than once I heard a chorus of excited voices calling out: “Ooh! This one is shaking! I think it's ready to come out!” (OK. One of those voices was probably mine.)

Chrysalises

A freshly emerged blue morpho butterfly (Morpho peleides), before its wings had fully hardened and straightened.

A Malay lacewing butterfly (Cethosia hypsea hypsina) pushing out of its chrysalid shell as we watch. Very cool.

Special highlights included watching a blue morpho butterfly flex its newly unfurled wings, inspecting the huge fibrous cocoons of atlas moths, and witnessing the release of “excess metabolic fluid” (kind of like butterfly pee; always a kid favorite) as the insects emerge.

After it pooled, my son repeatedly compared it to Diet Coke. Guess I'm drinking water from now on.

And now, because I have no self control, some more shots from the Emergence Gallery:

Another blue morpho, ready to move to the Conservatory.

The opaque chrysalises still have a little while to go, but when they turn transparent and you can see wing patterns and colors, it's almost time. Keep your eyes on those.

One of many giant owl butterflies to emerge as we watched.

Blue morphos again -- one just emerged, and one just a few minutes later, with wings straight and strong.

Even more impressive than the huge, fibrous Atlas moth cocoons? The huge, striking moths themselves! Also, have you ever heard a species name cooler than Attacus atlas?

I forgot this species! Someone tell me! But hey, how pretty is that?!

More newly hatched giant owl butterflies. We're being watched.

A blue morpho butts in on a giant owl conference.

Blue morpho says hey!

When we managed to tear ourselves away from the Emergence Gallery, we went through an “airlock” of sorts to ensure that no butterflies get in or out of the next stage, and then we entered the Conservatory, the centerpiece of Butterfly Wonderland.

Seriously, it'd be gorgeous even with no butterflies.

The Conservatory is a glass atrium, a greenhouse covering over 10,000 square feet and planted with tropical trees and bushes. It housed about 1,000 butterflies when we visited. They added another 3,000 for the full opening June 1, to coincide with National Butterfly Awareness Day. A small waterfall, large koi pond, benches, and sloping walkways complete the area.

I want that bench.

The atrium is a veritable showcase of the quirky wonders of biology; from knobby or feathery antennae, to eye spots on butterfly wings, to moth wingtips that look for all the world like snake heads.

Seriously, I'm waiting for a forked tongue.

Workers circulate to point out sights both bizarre and beautiful, and to teach visitors about the insects. You and your kids can learn about mimicry, metamorphosis, evolution, predators, and more. Get a close look at a butterfly’s curlicue proboscis, or the dainty feet, or its rainbow of shingle-like scales.

Yellow-edged giant-owl butterfly (Caligo atreus). They have striped eyes!

Look at that proboscis!

Or you can just lounge and watch the pretty butterflies with your loved ones. There are certainly much worse ways to spend an afternoon.

And it'll be a whole afternoon, if you have a partner in crime like mine.

Some of the resident insects are shy, but many seem to be -- dare I say it -- social butterflies. They may even land on you, as I discovered when one hitched a ride on my hair, or as my son learned when two blue morpho butterflies decided his fingers were a prime spot to, as he delicately put it, “make more butterflies!” He sat down with the pair for several minutes, and became temporarily known as the mating-morphos host, a designation he relished.

Probably the only context in which repeatedly announcing "LOOK EVERYONE! THEY'RE MATING!" is considered endearing.

Later, after we’d gently ushered the pair into a shady spot, a yellow-edged giant owl butterfly perched on his nose. I’ve never seen him so happy about an itchy nose.

Momentary silence of the kid.

[You can check off exotic butterflies and practicing identifying them here] Here (because I really do have no self control at all), just a few more of the Conservatory's residents:

Blue morphos, mating, again. They did this a lot.

A LOT.

A great eggfly butterfly (Hypolimnas bolina), perching on the ground. Make sure to watch where you step!

Blue morpho, wings open! 

Same species, wings closed. It's like a different butterfly. 

Check carefully through the foliage. No one but me spotted this butterfly. (Until it landed on the rear end of a fellow patron. I spared you and her that photo.)

Forgot this species too! I need a bigger field guide if I'm coming back here.

A clipper butterfly, another that went largely unseen in the bushes.

Seriously, these guys are massive. Can you imagine them flapping around at night? 

A lone blue morpho, probably about to hook up.

This was one well-photographed butterfly. This is a great place to practice your photography!

Blue morpho, showing off both sides of the wings!

Owl butterflies like to perch on hands as well as noses! (Make sure not to pick them up. They'll come.)

Aliens have landed! And they're beautiful.

I know a lot of wildlife advocates, enthusiasts, scientists, photographers, and just general nature lovers. And yes, the general consensus is that we prefer our wildlife, well, wild. Still, Butterfly Wonderland, from what I've seen so far, does a great job keeping these insects in as an environment as close to their native habitat as possible.

A lacewing butterfly, as close as it gets to Southeast Asian rainforest habitat in Arizona.

The butterflies are likely to live out their full lifespans (only a few weeks in many cases; these beauties are fleeting), as long as they don't get too overcrowded and as long as patrons are careful where they step. (While we were there, everyone was. It was actually pretty heartening to see kids and adults alike counseling one another to be gentle to insects.) So yes, the "real" wild is best, but I'm not likely to get free time and a budget to go trekking to Costa Rica and the Philippines any time soon, so this is the next best way to see these exotic insects.

You just knew I took a thousand photos of this moment.

The atrium is hot and muggy -- they keep it tropical for the butterflies -- so you will get sweaty. Wear cool, comfortable clothes and get something to drink beforehand. (Also, take family photos right away, before everyone's dripping.) It lets out into the Butterfly Café, which is a nice cool rest stop even if you’re not planning to buy refreshments.

Assuming you don't get your refreshments through a proboscis.

Next, we explored the other resident insects -- a beehive where we could watch the queen lay eggs and workers fill honeycomb with honey; and a large see-through ant colony.

Honeybee with honeycomb. And actual honey!

Look near the upper right for the queen, with a green dot.

The last exhibit is the Rivers of the Amazon area, with a wide variety of colorful fish.

Also available in every other color of the rainbow.

The area also included a pool with spotted freshwater rays, which visitors were invited to touch gently (after having their hands sanitized). The half-dozen rays, juvenile and still small, mostly stayed at the bottom of their pool, only coming up now and then to investigate visitors, but we liked it, as it seemed the rays had plenty of room and weren't stressed.

I'm happy because I don't have to hang out in a bathtub with 50 other rays!

The tour ends, of course, in a gift shop. Still, the Butterfly Treasures Gift Shop has some great (if pricey) souvenirs, and even if you're not inclined to buy (we weren't), the only thing your kids will probably pester you about upon leaving is your next visit.

Last one like this. Promise.

Butterfly Wonderland is located at 9500 E. Via de Ventura, Scottsdale
Admission: Adults: $18.95, Children ages 3-11: $9.95, Students: $16.95
Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily
For more information, call (480) 800-3000 or visit  www.butterflywonderland.com

Come now!

Experiencing art (even when you can’t touch it) at the Phoenix Art Museum

This article originally ran in the May 2013 issue of Times Publications.

I have a confession: I have cultivated, in three decades of living, almost zero real appreciation for art. I don’t mean performance art -- I like a good play and love of music runs strong in our family. But “real,” hang-on-the-wall or stand-in-a-room art? Except photography, I just never “got” it. I never tried to get it.

Yes, some of these paintings will prompt many questions. That's a great thing.

Still, I figured just maybe, my son enjoy a trip to the Phoenix Art Museum last month. I just hoped he wouldn’t be too bored.



I should have known better. We had a wonderful time. I’m sorry I didn’t visit sooner.

We weren’t even out of the lobby when we saw “The Last Scattering Surface;” a sculpture of glass, aluminum, and light by Josiah McElheny that combines industrial techniques and big-bang cosmic illustration. My son was hooked.

Next we spent a while wandering through walls of butterflies. Not real ones -- clouds and swarms of black paper butterflies swirled up the walls and ceiling, leading toward the Diane and Bruce Halle Collection, “Order, Chaos, and the Space Between,” featured through May 5. (Don’t worry if you missed it; the museum has great exhibits following as well.)



The Halle gallery was captivating. Exhibits of glass, cement, thread, metal, and much more illustrated wildness and pattern, creating a snapshot-in-time of Latin American artists pushing boundaries of creativity.



I learned a lesson many parents learn on first museum visits: Watch your kids and their hands. As we approached a bold painting and I looked ahead, my son brushed a sculpture with a finger. Naturally, a museum worker politely asked him to use his eyes only. Then, he did it again -- this time “accidentally”-on-purpose, with a shirt sleeve, on the same sculpture. We had a brief but enthusiastic conversation with the same (extremely patient) worker. My son was on her radar. We continued to peruse the gallery, his hands firmly in his pockets. Lesson received.




This made for a humorous moment with an exhibit we saw a few minutes later. A pile of mint-green hard candies, individually wrapped, formed a pond-shaped pile on the floor. A sign invited visitors to take one and explained that the piece is ever-changing.

But the lesson from the sculpture loomed large, and my son only circled the pile. His hand reached out … and darted back to his pocket. Not allowed! Can’t touch!

It wasn’t until another worker invited him to take a piece that he dared snatch one up. So the lesson isn’t “Don’t touch anything,” but rather “Follow the rules.” And pay attention to learn the rules. The same as the “rule” for enjoying art. Pay attention.



If you aren’t sure younger ones will have the patience for “grown-up” art, you can still check out the museum together. The PhxArtKids Gallery explores interactions of color and shape, and invites kids to build their own art; from drawing to building copies of mounted pieces. For us, it reinforced lessons in exploration that we were already learning: look from a distance and closely and think about colors, shapes, and lines. Wonder how the artist thought and felt as he or she made the piece. Young kids will glean a few lessons, and older kids will learn even more. You might also pick up some great ideas for crafts at home!



I was most surprised at his reaction to “Ahmed Alsoudani: Redacted,” a series of layered and chaotic paintings influenced by the artist’s time in Iraq. Machines, animals, faces, eyes, and more swirl together in a vivid commentary on chaos, violence, and life. I thought it would be too abstract. My son studied each one.



We perused many of the other exhibits, and I watched as the museum inspired not just an aesthetic appreciation for art in my son, but an in-depth analytical  analysis: “Why did they do that? Why is this there instead of here? Why these colors? What does this mean?” If anyone tells you art is weird fluff and no real thinking, tell them to watch a kid at an art museum.



My son’s favorite was definitely Yayoi Kusama’s “You Who Are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies.” It’s a darkened, mirrored room illuminated only by strings of color-shifting LED lights hung from the ceiling, ending about a foot from the floor. Mirrors replicate the points of light into infinity, but we were barely visible. Go in, adjust for a moment, stand, and really look. It’s the kind of disorienting freedom and sense of wonder you usually only get from serious stargazing. And kids will love it. My son didn’t want to leave the room, and I can’t say I disagreed.





From European classics to contemporary art, the Phoenix Art Museum is like several museums in one. Plan ahead and see the exhibits that most excite you. Keep your family’s particular interests in mind -- but whether you’re visiting with young ones, older kids, teens, or just having a special adults’ day out, the Phoenix Art Museum’s got you covered. (Just don’t touch most of the exhibits.)



For more information, call (602) 257-1222 or visit www.phxart.org.

A year of dragons and damsels

I have been known at times as the spider lady. I'm also the vulture lady and now the mother of a budding ornithologist (more on that later). But Arizona offers more than amazing birding and fodder for my nocturnal adventures. Dragonfly and damselfly watching has been growing, much like birding took off (har har) before it. Places like Boyce Thompson Arboretum do regular dragonfly walks in the summer, Chandler's Environmental Education Center holds days celebrating dragonflies, they're studied around Arizona both formally and through awesome citizen science efforts, we have dragonfly experts and enthusiasts cataloging our species, we have dedicated dragonfly blogs, and dragons and damsels generally make Arizona an awesome place to be, especially in the summer. (Well, if you don't mind the whole 120-degree heat thing.)

Canyon rubyspot damselfly (Hetaerina vulnerata), Saguaro Lake, Mesa

Mexican amberwing dragonfly (Perithemis intensa), Tucson

Mexican amberwing dragonfly (Perithemis intensa), Boyce Thompson Arboretum

Spot-winged glider (Pantala hymenaea), Gilbert Riparian Preserve

Pacific forktail damselfly mating pair (Ischnura cervula)‎, Gilbert Riparian Preserve

So I was excited and intrigued when my friend on Google+ (yes, there are a ton of us over there -- come join us!), Michael Hensley, had the idea to start sharing a photo of a dragonfly or damselfly each day. He shared some of his fantastic photos before moving on to other pursuits. However, I stole was inspired by his idea, and with his permission, ran with it for the full 365 days. My rules were kind of made up as I went, but almost all the shots were taken within this past year. To "count," it had to be a good photo -- I've spotted a few springwater dancers, red rock skimmers, and plateau dragonlets; but alas, I captured only one lousy shot of the dancer and none of the others, so I'll keep trying. The main idea was to show off the amazing, intricate beauty of these insects, and maybe learn a little about science and photography along the way. I was forced to skip a day here and there. (Family emergencies and family in general are not too sympathetic to "Hang on! The Internet needs an insect photo from me today!") However, just a couple weeks late, here is my year's worth of photos of our state's gorgeous Odonata (that's the name for this order of insects). It's been a fun year, following these dragons and damsels.

Mexican amberwing dragonflies (and bonus hoverfly!) (Perithemis intensa), Boyce Thompson Arboretum

Blue-ringed dancer damselfly (Argia sedula), Gilbert Riparian Preserve

I plan to do a much more thorough and dedicated blog post (or posts) on dragonflies -- maybe some species accounts, certainly more of a rundown of what I've learned in the past year. I'd like to share some dragonfly research, highlight some spots, talk about my wonderful assistant/son when he accompanies me, and hopefully touch base with some fellow odo-nuts. (Yes, I know that's lame.) For now, though, please enjoy some highlights from this year. You can check out the whole album here.

Rambur's forktail damselfly (Ischnura ramburii), Veteran's Oasis Park, Chandler

I'm doing another year, starting today. I have a few thoughts, which follow. Any tips from fellow oders? Any requests from pretty insect oglers?

Rambur's forktail damselfly (Ischnura ramburii), Papago Park, Phoenix

1. More locations. I've relied really heavily on half a dozen ode havens. While part of this is because I have a job (usually), a kid, a family, and all that good stuff; and I do not have infinite gas money and time to spend tracking them down; I would like to branch out quite a bit more. I know there are some great spots I've yet to hit, and I bet there are new ones I don't even know yet.

Blue dasher dragonfly (Pachydiplax longipennis), Papago Park, Phoenix

2. More species. This kind of goes with No. 1 -- the more locations I visit, the wider variety of species I'm likely to encounter.

Blue dasher dragonfly (Pachydiplax longipennis), Gilbert Riparian Preserve

3. More, and more frequent, visits to the "regular" spots. This could also go with No. 2. Different species frequent the same area at different times in the season. For example, I almost never saw Pacific forktails (or at least I didn't notice them) until I started paying attention to the Gilbert Riparian Preserve earlier in the season.

Flame skimmer dragonfly (Libellula saturata), Tucson

4. More information. I did pretty well on this for a while -- I regaled anyone who followed the series with tales of territory disputes, Latin name origins, cannibalism, and dragonfly/damselfly Kama Sutra (or "insex" as some of us in the insect geek set like to call it) -- but I can do better. I'd like to include at least nuggets of cool information with maybe a quarter to half of my shots, and engaging descriptions with most of them, hopefully. Of course there are limits -- there are only so many anecdotes I can share about blue dashers -- but you get the idea.

Blue dasher dragonfly (Pachydiplax longipennis), Papago Park, Phoenix

5. Connect more with others. I would love to learn from the dragonfly and damselfly experts, and I would love to connect more -- virtually or otherwise -- with other enthusiasts. The Internet is so awesome for this kind of thing (we already have Yahoo groups, Facebook groups, and awesome sites like BugGuide.net), and I hope to make even better use of them.

6. Make something (else) out of it. I would really, really love to write a well-researched, longer-form piece on these awesome arthropod acrobats. Any takers?

Rambur's forktail damselfly female orange form (Ischnura ramburii), Papago Park, Phoenix

Blue dasher dragonfly (Pachydiplax longipennis), Papago Park, Phoenix

Desert firetail damselfly (Telebasis salva) mating pair, Boyce Thompson Arboretum

Widow skimmer dragonfly (Libellula luctuosa), Papago Park, Phoneix

Mexican amberwing dragonfly (Perithemis intensa), Gilbert Riparian Preserve

Blue dasher dragonfly (Pachydiplax longipennis), Papago Park, Phoenix

Desert Forktail damselfly (Ischnura barberi), Papago Park, Phoenix

Flame skimmer dragonfly (Libellula saturata), Gilbert Riparian Preserve

Rambur's forktail damselfly female orange form (Ischnura ramburii), Papago Park, Phoenix

Red saddlebags dragonfly (Tramea onusta), Veteran's Oasis Park, Chandler

Red saddlebags dragonfly (Tramea onusta), Papago Park, Phoenix

Red-tailed pennant dragonflies (Brachymesia furcata), Veteran's Oasis Park, Chandler

Roseate skimmer dragonfly (Orthemis ferruginea), Gilbert Riparian Preserve

Western pondhawk dragonfly mating wheel (Erythemis collocata), Papago Park