Friday, May 3, 2024

Sophia M Sachs Butterfly House in Chesterfield turns 25

sophia m sachs butterfly house

The Miracle of Metamorphosis display exhibits chrysalides with butterflies emerging as visitors watch. “It’s quite rare for a botanical garden to have a museum,” Pfeifer said. “Maybe about 10 gardens around the world have dedicated museums that tell stories about plants. It’s invaluable to have visitors able to come to one of the oldest botanical gardens in the country and learn about some significant plant families that touch all of us. In June 2000, the Butterfly House opened the Butterfly Garden, featuring nectar sources and host plants to attract both native and migratory butterflies. The Butterfly Garden has earned certification as a National Wildlife Federation Schoolyard Teaching Habitat.

An Inside Look at the Butterfly House’s Newly Expanded Entomology Lab

The Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House in Faust Park is a major local destination for families. It’s no coincidence that Louis Sachs supported the concept, said Jennifer Mullix, director of the butterfly house. George Englemann, a German-born botanist and scientific adviser to Henry Shaw, a philanthropist and founder of the garden, was instrumental in studying and naming many native Missouri grapes. German immigrants who landed in Missouri discovered those native plants as well, and towns such as Hermann boast a number of popular wineries today. The Stephen and Peter Sachs Museum is unusual in part because so few botanical gardens have a dedicated facility of its kind, said Nezka Pfeifer, museum curator. It’s a project that’s been in the works for several years – and one that completely re-imagines not only how lab employees work but also how the public interacts with the lab.

Missouri

Ground was broken in June of 1997 and construction began on the Butterfly House. The 8,000 square foot Conservatory Garden is sheathed in 646 pieces of glass, each measuring 4' X 6' and weighing approximately 200 pounds. The center vault, soaring 36' high at its apex, is one of five vaults designed to minimize visual (and flight) obstruction. Great care was taken in the design and engineering of the building to assure a natural and safe habitat for the butterflies.

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The Butterfly House offers education programs, special events, lectures and, of course, the chance to witness butterflies in two habitats, one native and one tropical. In July, 2001, the Butterfly House became a division of the Missouri Botanical Garden, a leader in horticultural displays, research and education. The following year, 2002, the second expansion of the facility opened and was designated the "Emerson Lakeside Terrace". This plaza area is the site for many special events, both public and private. That same year, the Butterfly House began participating with Butterfly Conservation Initiative, BFCI, of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). In 2003, the Butterfly House became the first dedicated insect facility to be accredited by the AZA.

This features butterfly inspired jewelry and home decor, local artwork, toys, apparel and whimsical garden accessories. Whether you want to learn to identify different insects, attract pollinators to your garden, or make beautiful crafts the Butterfly House has educational classes for adults, youth and families. The Butterfly House engages in efforts near and far to support local habitats and rainforests in Costa Rica.

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Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly. Even a small parsley plant destined as garnish or on a seder plate can attract some butterflies, she said. His father, Samuel, was a Lithuanian immigrant, and his grandfather, also named Louis, was a dry goods peddler who settled the family in Desloge, Mo. Samuel earned a degree in electrical engineering from Washington University and formed the S.C.

sophia m sachs butterfly house

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Some host plants include different varieties of milkweed, snapdragons, hackberry, fennel, clovers and alfalfa. There are several small and large trees that make wonderful host plants as well like willows, aspen, elm and cottonwood. Home to more than 60 tropical butterfly species and over 150 tropical plants, the conservatory at the Butterfly House is nothing short of paradise. The 8,000 square foot Conservatory housing nearly 2,000 butterflies year round is the heart of the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House. This climate controlled space is where the "miracle of metamorphosis" takes places every day.

Events

The renovation also included the installation of new, engaging exhibits that enhanced the visitor experience. Hof extended the lab into the butterfly flight house, meaning that now, when guests turn a corner in the facility, they come face to face with the lab’s emergence cases. "To foster a greater understanding of plant and animal relationships in the environment in order to promote the conservation and restoration of natural habitats." Fish & Wildlife Service to rescue invertebrates confiscated from international illegal shipments. Rather than euthanizing non-native insects that might bring diseases to local habitats, Fish & Wildlife inspectors transfer them to the Butterfly House for further inspection and care, Mullix explains. Mullix said the butterfly house is connected with the Missouri Botanical Garden in part because trees are host plants for butterflies.

sophia m sachs butterfly house

A freestanding conservatory, the Victorian Greenhouse (now restored for use by the Butterfly House), is a romantic focal point for the estate. Even the dairy barn is distinguished by its “Lamella” roof, a complex wooden structure that spans the entire 100-by-50-feet without intervening support. Ground was broken in June of 1997, and construction began on the Butterfly House. The 8,000-square-foot Conservatory is sheathed in 646 pieces of glass, each measuring four-by-six-foot and weighing approximately 200 pounds. The center vault, soaring to 36-foot high at its apex, is one of five vaults designed to minimize visual (and flight) obstruction. The Butterfly House Gift Shop is the perfect place to find special items to remember your visit by.

You can see how they eat, live, and grow, and if you are lucky, you can watch some butterflies emerge from their cocoons and take their first baby butterfly flight. “Now that we have the expanded entomology lab, we’ve been able to take several confiscations of a variety of species like ants, tarantulas and mantises,” she says. Having discovered a fondness for insects while pursuing her degree in Biology, Randi Jones was quite bugged to know that people usually dismissed these little creatures as “creepy-crawlies”. Host plants are the plants that caterpillars eat, and so butterflies lay their eggs on them. Caterpillars are picky eaters and if they hatch on a plant that they don’t like to eat, they won’t eat it and they won’t survive because they are unable to travel to another plant that they like better. It is important for a butterfly house to have a large variety of host plants for this reason.

A butterfly house, garden or farm is an enclosed butterfly habitat where hundreds of different butterfly species live and breed in a very natural, yet controlled environment. A butterfly house is very much an observatory, where you can walk into the butterfly habitat and interact with the butterflies. And they will interact with you, too, especially if you wear bright clothing and smell good (butterflies like floral perfumes). Stepping outside offers a several native butterfly gardens and plantings where visitors learn how to attract butterflies to their own homes and neighborhoods.

The Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House is filled with excitement and surprise. The park is also home to the fully restored St. Louis Carousel, where visitors can ride one of the more than 60 hand-carved animals in indoor comfort. Families enjoy a look back in time by touring the Historic Village, re-created with structures from 19th century St. Louis. The Conservatory is lushly planted with nearly 100 species of exotic flowering tropical plants. Visitors see enormous species diversity including huge iridescent blue Morphos from Costa Rica, the Ruby Lacewing from Malaysia and the Golden Birdwing from the Philippines.

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