The Butterfly Conservatory opens for the season this weekend

 

A photo posted by Laina Richards (@lainanne) on Sep 20, 2015 at 6:29pm PDT

Need a touch of springtime in this dismal, freezing winter? The Butterfly Conservatory at the American Museum of Natural History opens for the season on Saturday, December 10. If you forgot which comes first, the larva or the pupa, now’s your chance to study! Or you can just admire the teal and neon-yellow butterflies and wish you were in their tropical homelands with them.

The exhibit features many of the 18,000 kinds of butterflies, with science lessons on Lepidoptera anatomy, metamorphosis and butterfly gardens. There are rows of eerily preserved butterflies, and down a passageway in a self-contained bubble, you'll find live butterflies fluttering around. If you hold still, one may even land on you for the perfect Instagram opportunity.