Rosine Smith Sammons Butterfly House and Insectarium

Butterflies aren’t free — anything but. But the folks at Fair Park’s Texas Discovery Gardens think they’re well worth the approximately $150,000 they’ll spend in the coming year to stock the new Rosine Smith Sammons Butterfly House and Insectarium, which opened Sept. 12, 2009. The two-story, 8,000-square-foot greenhouselike facility will house 500 to 1,000 butterflies at a time, showcasing as many as 500 species including zebra longwings, red admirals, monarchs, Mexican bluewings, swallowtails and others, according to Sarah Gardner, public relations and marketing coordinator for the facility.

Most live only a week or two (with a couple of exceptions, such as the zebra longwing), so the house must be continually restocked.

Tropical butterflies will eventually join their Texas-native brethren in the house, once the Department of Agriculture permits are approved. Because butterflies are considered foreign livestock, they must be carefully regulated and controlled, and no breeding is allowed.

Visitors must go through “airlocks” to get in and out of the exhibit, and a mirror is provided at the exit for de-butterflying oneself; they like to hitch rides on unwary explorers. Guests will also get to see butterflies emerge from their chrysalides in emergence chambers.

The gardens have traditionally hosted a butterfly house during the State Fair, but this is North Texas’ first butterfly house that’s open year-round. Fish, aquatic bugs and other interesting insects will share space with the butterflies in the conservatory.

Visitors to the butterfly house start at the entrance on the second floor inside the Discovery Gardens building, then descend down a winding spiral walkway above the palms, gingers, bromeliads and nectar plants.

The project of completely renovating the butterfly house and adjacent building was partially funded through a $3 million gift from Mary Anne Cree, Rosine Smith Sammons’ daughter, who gave the money in honor of her mother’s love of butterflies and nature. The city of Dallas awarded $4.7 million in bond funds to the project.

Among the improvements are the addition of the new EarthKeepers Children’s Classroom, the first dedicated indoor classroom at the facility, where youngsters can get into hands-on scientific observation.