If the butterflies at the Norfolk Botanical Garden have heard the news that they’ve earned a major recognition, they’re doing a good job of keeping it to themselves. For the moment, they’re too busy courting, laying eggs, sipping nectar and dodging the occasional frog. But the native-species-only Butterfly House that they call home was just named the No. 1 butterfly house in the nation by USA Today’s 10Best awards.
For Lauren Tafoya, who has spent sixteen seasons raising caterpillars and managing the exhibit, the recognition is a well-deserved nod to many years of effort. “Our focus is on ecology and conservation,” she says. “We’re not showing you something tropical and far away. We’re showing you what you can actually support in your own backyard.”
Indeed, the Norfolk Botanical Garden’s annual Butterfly House (open now through Sept. 30) only hosts butterflies native to the region. That choice allows them to live freely, without the USDA restrictions that prohibit reproduction in tropical species. Here, everything unfolds as it would outdoors: eggs are laid, caterpillars feed and butterflies emerge in real time.
A Self-Sustaining Ecosystem
Tafoya says that with limited predation the butterflies are forced to lay all their eggs in a relatively small space. In the wild, they would disperse across a broader landscape.
“Part of my role is to purge caterpillars or eggs off of the plant,” she explains, removing the excess to prevent overfeeding. “And then those are free to finish their feeding cycle, go through the metamorphosis process, and turn into the butterflies that they’re going to be.”
Tafoya walks the space multiple times daily, monitoring each stage of the life cycle. “I can walk around and show you eggs, caterpillars, chrysalis, and how that behavior would be in your garden space,” she says.
Inside, plants are carefully chosen not just for nectar, but to match the specific dietary needs of each species. “Every species of butterfly as a caterpillar has a partner food group,” Tafoya says. “And they cannot eat outside of that.” The butterflies themselves “taste with their toes,” she adds, and will starve before eating something incompatible…