Spread Your Wings with Butterfly Wonderland
Scottsdale’s one-of-a-kind entertainment destination - Arizona Boardwalk - features nine marquee attractions – OdySea Aquarium, Butterfly Wonderland, UFO Experience, Ripley’s Believe It or Not!®, Laser + Mirror Maze, Museum of Illusions, Pangaea Land of the Dinosaurs, Cyber Quest and Johnny’s Playground – in addition to multiple dining, shopping, and amusement venues. Learn more at azboardwalk.com
Transcript
00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - You guys, I am the butterfly whisperer.
00:13 Look at that.
00:14 We have moved over here to Butterfly Wonderland
00:17 and it is truly a wonderland in here.
00:19 I'm standing here with Derek Kellogg
00:20 who is one of the entomologists here.
00:22 So Derek, this is so gorgeous.
00:25 Tell me a little bit about Butterfly Wonderland
00:26 and what everybody can see when they come.
00:28 - Yeah, so Butterfly Wonderland
00:30 is a 10,000 square foot facility
00:32 and we get about 1,200 chrysalises every single week.
00:37 And these chrysalises come to us from all over the world,
00:39 mainly tropical areas.
00:41 So we have people who send us butterflies
00:43 from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Colombia, Africa, Asia.
00:48 So they're coming from all over the world.
00:51 - And clarify what a chrysalis is for us real quickly
00:54 for those who don't know.
00:55 - Yeah, so butterflies pass through four stages
00:57 in their life cycle.
00:58 They start as an egg,
01:00 the egg then hatches into a caterpillar
01:03 and the caterpillar when it's ready,
01:04 will turn into a chrysalis
01:05 before it becomes an adult butterfly.
01:07 - Okay, gotcha.
01:08 Okay, so you get them from all over the world.
01:10 They come as the little chrysalis
01:12 and then they come out of their shell
01:14 while they're here in the exhibit?
01:16 - Yeah, so we actually have a separate area
01:18 called our emergence gallery.
01:20 And in this emergence gallery,
01:21 that's where we put all the chrysalises
01:23 that we've received for the week.
01:25 And so people can see those chrysalises in there.
01:28 They'll emerge sometimes even while people are watching.
01:32 And then twice a day, we'll gather up the new butterflies
01:35 and we'll take them right out in here into the exhibit.
01:37 - Okay, so here in the exhibit, you guys,
01:39 it's warm in here.
01:40 It's, what's the temperature?
01:41 - So we try and keep it around 80 degrees
01:43 and about 70% humidity.
01:45 - Yeah, 'cause that's what butterflies like.
01:47 They like that warm tropical vibe,
01:49 which is why we get them from all over the world,
01:51 those kind of warmer tropical climes,
01:54 which is what you were saying earlier.
01:56 And what about all of the foliage that's in here?
01:58 You were telling me a little bit about that earlier.
02:00 - Yeah, so in order to care for all these butterflies,
02:03 we have to be able to provide enough food for all of them.
02:06 So when you're looking around,
02:08 seeing all the flowers in the exhibit,
02:10 these flowers are specifically chosen
02:12 to provide the nectar that the butterflies need
02:14 in order to survive.
02:16 But not all of our butterflies
02:17 are nectar-feeding butterflies.
02:19 Some of them, because they come from the tropics,
02:21 are actually fruit-feeding butterflies
02:23 and help provide enough food for them.
02:25 You'll see these tubes over throughout the exhibit.
02:28 And these tubes will take a fruity, sugary solution.
02:33 We'll mix it up with some honey and some water.
02:35 Then we'll put what's called water crystals in there.
02:39 And these basically start out as little hard things
02:42 and they'll absorb water and become kind of like a gel.
02:45 And we use that to keep them inside the tube
02:47 because there's all these holes drilled down the tube.
02:49 - Ah, okay, interesting.
02:51 And so that's where you see the butterflies
02:52 kind of like hanging out on the side
02:54 'cause they're over there feeding.
02:55 - Absolutely. - Very, very cool.
02:56 And remind me, I don't know if you've said this already,
02:58 how many different species will people see
03:01 on a regular basis when they come with an average?
03:03 - So we'll have an average about 50 to 75 species
03:06 at any point in time.
03:07 But we'll get somewhere around 200 species
03:09 through the course of a year.
03:11 So depending upon when you come,
03:13 you'll see a different mix of species.
03:14 - So cool.
03:15 And you guys, this is such an incredible area.
03:17 I've already had butterflies landing on me
03:20 and they're just kind of flying around.
03:21 It's really magical.
03:22 It's really beautiful in here.
03:24 So tell everyone where they can find more information,
03:26 where they can get tickets.
03:27 - So you can find more information and get tickets online
03:31 at our website, www.butterflywonderland.com.
03:35 And you can also purchase tickets here in person
03:38 over at our admissions window.
03:39 - I love it.
03:40 Oh my gosh, this is so cool.
03:41 You guys, make sure you stick around
03:43 because we have more of the mix coming to you
03:45 from the Arizona boardwalk coming up next.
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