3. The Flying Specimens Inside the Butterfly Vivarium

  • Butterfly at the Vivarium of the Gilder Center
  • Butterfly Vivarium at the American Museum of Natural History

The Davis Family Butterfly Vivarium showcases some 130 species of butterflies, a few of which will happily land on your head. At first, visitors are likely to be stunned by the elegance and diversity of the butterflies. But once you’re acclimated to the warmth and humidity you’ll want to check the ID board, which is updated daily and provides an illustrated card for each species in flight. True to its educational mission the museum tells us we can help the New York Metropolitan Region’s 150+ butterfly species to thrive by building butterfly gardens: “You can invite them to your home and give them more opportunities to eat, rest, and reproduce.” Tips can be found on the AMNH website.

A volunteer inside the butterfly vivarium at the Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation

One of the many joys of the Gilder Center are the knowledgeable volunteers who staff the exhibits. Ralph Ferreira (left) bought his endearing butterfly shirt a few years before becoming a volunteer.

Looking out of the windows of the Gilder Center

A bird lover, Gang had the many windows in Gilder fritted—printed with a ceramic dot and fired into a permanent, opaque coating—to warn birds away.

Some critics object to the presence of live insects in a museum, including butterflies and moths. Thus the security system for keeping the butterflies in their enclosure is serious. Says Gang, “Visitors pass through an airlock and the insects will be living their lives, mating, harvesting food and nectar, making cocoons, all in natural lights and among real plants. They don’t live very long, perhaps only a week. Our task is to make people want to protect them, to see the wonder of nature.”