‘Butterflies Alive!’ Debuts Tropical Season at Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

The Blue Morpho butterfly is larger than most other species in the exhibit and has vibrant blue wings that are visible when it flies. (Courtesy photo)

The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History opens its popular summer exhibit “Butterflies Alive!” on Saturday with more than 1,000 local and tropical butterflies. 

This year’s Sprague Butterfly Pavilion will introduce multiple new species, including the Blue Morpho, Giant Owl, Tiger Longwing and Blue-frosted Banner.

The beloved butterfly garden also will accommodate more than a dozen colorful tropical species from Costa Rica, and fan favorites such as the Malachite, Julia Longwing, Gulf Fritillary, Common Buckeye and Eastern Giant Swallowtail.

“The Blue Morpho is the species I’m most excited about,” museum spokeswoman Briana Sapp said. “They’re quite large, their wings are around 3 to 4 inches, which is larger than most of our other butterflies. The outside of the wing looks very camouflage — browns and darker colors — so that they wouldn’t be seen in a tree, but when they’re flying their wings open up to a vibrant almost iridescent blue and it’s just breathtaking.”

Summer marks a fast species cycle for the museum’s butterflies, so each visit to the garden will look different.

While the total number of butterflies in the pavilion at a time will remain at 1,000, new ones will be circled through the space to maintain an active garden.

Plants and foliage in the pavilion will be more lush than prior years, and the climate will be kept warm and moist. The environment is built to support this year’s exciting new tropical butterflies.

The exhibit is open Wednesday through Monday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with final entry into the pavilion at 4 p.m. “Butterflies Alive!” is included in museum admission, which can be reserved online.

“There’s so much going on in the world, so to come to somewhere where it’s quiet and serene, and just a beautiful outdoor experience. It’s very stress relieving and calming,” Sapp said. “But it’s also something the whole family can do, from babies to grandparents, it’s something that everybody’s interested in.”

The exhibit will run through the summer, from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History is located at 2559 Puesta Del Sol in Santa Barbara.