Trichogramma Wasps
We have always known about Trichogramma Wasps because they lay their eggs inside our butterfly eggs. They are so tiny (less than 1mm), you need a microscope to see them! To protect our eggs, we collect them every hour and half, so the wasps cannot parasitize them. Recently at our microscope we have had some […]
Morning Tea at the Sanctuary
On Tuesday this week, we hosted a morning tea for a group of local ladies from Cairns. They started their visit with a guided tour of the sanctuary, learning about our butterflies and their life cycle. Once they were done, we served tea and coffee with nibbles on the deck between our Aviary and Laboratory. The […]
Birdwing Butterfly Display
We are excited to announce our new Birdwing Butterfly Display in our museum! David, who works in our breeding laboratory, has been breeding butterflies since he was 9 and also pins and sets butterflies for display. He has helped to create this masterpiece, and it looks wonderful in our museum! Make sure you check it […]
What happens inside a pupa?
Ever wondered what happens inside a pupa? I know we have done a Fun Fact about this before but this web site has 3D scans of the changes that go on inside the pupa. It’s pretty cool, so make sure you check it out! Web site and photo courtesy of http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/05/14/3-d-scans-caterpillars-transforming-butterflies-metamorphosis/
Clothes Moths eat your clothes!
Moths that eat your clothes … who knew they existed?! Turns out they do – they’re called Clothes Moths! Of the thousands upon thousands of species of moths in the world, there are very few whose caterpillars will eat the fibres in clothing. However, there definitely are some – and these are called Clothes Moths! […]
How do butterflies fly?
How do butterflies fly? It’s not a simple as you might have thought! Firstly, it’s worth noting that butterflies have really big wings for the size of their bodies. In fact, new research shows butterflies’ wings are much larger than they need to fly and they can fly with half their wings missing! Because the […]
Butterflies, lobsters and scorpions
Question: What do butterflies, lobsters and scorpions have in common? Answer: They all wear their skeletons on the outside! This is called an exoskeleton and all creatures that have their structure on the outside are included in the phylum of Arthropods. A large majority of arthropods belong to the three main groups: Insects – Ants, […]
Butterfly Wings
Butterfly wings are made up of Nano micro air layered structures scales, which diffract and interfere causing light waves to spread through the spaces between the structures to produce the vibrant colours on their wings. Humans can only see red to violet in the light spectrum whereas butterflies see all colours including ultraviolet light. The […]
Butterfly Vision
Butterfly vision is different from birds and humans who both see from the red light spectrum through to violet. Butterflies see from the red spectrum through to ultra violet. This is very useful for the butterfly as they drink nectar from flowers and flowers fluoresce in the ultraviolet spectrum to attract butterflies to feed and […]
Tiger Moth
Our butterfly guide, Robin, has often seen this pupa and wondered what it was – it’s a Tiger Moth! Tiger Moth caterpillars don’t spin a full cocoon. The pupa is suspended in a basket woven out of the caterpillar’s body hairs rather than silk. The cocoon made by the caterpillar is quite remarkable. It is […]