utterflies are more than a popular tattoo fixture on campus.Far less painful and strides more naturally beautiful, the winged critters can be found at one of MSU’s hidden gems, the Butterfly House, which is next to the 4-H Children’s Garden, on the southwest corner of Wilson Road and Bogue Street.
Kept around 75 degrees, visitors are greeted by Julia butterflies, which are orange, monarch butterflies with orange and black markings, and zebra butterflies, with wings covered in zebra stripes. Besides butterflies, the greenhouse is packed with nectar producing plants, stones, a miniature goldfish pond and a bridge. An adjacent “Caterpillar Rearing Room” hosts caterpillars on milkweed and passion vines.
The butterflies zip around, and occasionally sit on or brush a patient visitor.
To enter the Butterfly House, pass through Sparty’s Flowers, a gift and flower shop that also serves as the visitor center for the surrounding Horticulture Garden’s and 4-H Children’s Gardens.
Jill Hardy, project coordinator for Sparty’s Flowers, said students may not realize the area exists.
“The kids like the butterflies,” she said. “Not as many students come through. A lot don’t realize that the butterfly house and gardens are here.
“We’re kind of isolated on this end of campus. One woman said she’d been on campus 20 years and never knew we were here.”
Sparty’s Flowers sells goods from local artists, including soaps and watercolor paintings. Gardening books, pewter picture frames and other functional art pieces, cookies from the MSU Bakery and a smattering of gardening knickknacks fill its shelves.
Phil Heavin, a greenhouse assistant for MSU and amateur nature photographer, visited the Butterfly House on his lunch break Wednesday and said the insects seem more docile than those found in nature.
“I’m a photographer, and I’m hoping to take a few shots of these butterflies,” he said. “They’re hard to photograph outside because it’s windy and they just fly away.
“Especially these monarchs.”
Heavin said he’d like to add pictures of butterflies to his portfolio.
The Butterfly House, founded in 1991, moved from north campus to its current location in 1997, and may move again in the near future.
“There are plans for a new conservatory and butterfly house, but we have not been given the OK for fund-raising for that,” said Frank Ewers, acting chairman of plant biology. “It’s sort of on hold.
“There are definite plans on paper, though.”
These plans include a 2,000-square foot butterfly house as part of an overall 18,000-square foot display that would also feature rain forest, subtropical desert, evolution, carnivorous plants, ferns, orchids and rotational displays. The projected time table for completion is 2005, according to the Butterfly House Web site.
The Butterfly House is free to groups less than 10, but parking is $5, which goes to the privately funded gardens. Tokens can be purchased from Sparty’s Flower’s. Larger groups must schedule tours in advance. Fees for tours are $1 per child, $2 per adult and a minimum of $20 per group. The Butterfly House is open 9 a.m. through 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, or by appointment. Call (517) 355-0348.
