The Butterfly House

We have a butterfly house in Crystal Lake! I've known that for a year or two but never took the time to visit it until now. I guess I was missing out!! Emily and I have been there twice in the last week! The first time, I was so engrossed in what it was like that I didn't think to take pictures even though I brought my camera. So we went back again this morning and I got some lovely shots.

Here's a couple of monarchs.
A monarch emerging from its chrysalis:
This one is a swallowtail.
Two shots of the zebra longwing:

A fritillary:
The butterflies present in the house vary throughout the summer but these inhabitants are present year round...even during the winter when no butterflies live there! These funny little birds are a variety of button quail from Asia and they live with the butterflies to perform the important function of eating insects. In fact, they are so anxious to eat insects that they gather around any new plant to clean it of the tiniest insects as thoroughly as they can. I found the button quail as interesting as the butterflies!