A Bit Of A Flap

A cloudy start and the day the schools break up for the summer holiday. Not the obvious time to visit the Science Museum. But despite the crowds, the Science Museum is something that everyone should see. First stop though, was the Butterfly Explorers Exhibition outside the Natural History Museum. This had been recommended to me; and having been rather interested in butterflies for some time, it had been on my list of things to do.


Synopsis: Fabulously coloured, pan-continent butterfly species' feast on bananas and oranges and rest on exotic foliage, in between flitting freely about under a weather-stabilising, white canvas dome. In short, Centre Parcs for insects.
Protected from the outside by two waves of plastic curtains, the entrance was a bit like a chiller cabinet except the items behind it were alive and not dead. But the warning: “Danger – High Humidity” did not do the temperature justice. Ceiling air conditioning units blowing out hot air demanded that jackets be removed and the ‘Butterfly Passport’ pack given out on admission become an impromptu fan.


Once inside, information points gave you the chance to read about the various papilio, broken down by continent, whilst the stars of the show zoomed about your head and landed just about everywhere. There were a few casualties. Some landed on the floor (damp, dark matting is obviously very appealing to the average South American Blue Morpho) and were crushed by feet of people naturally looking up rather than down. One man, seeing a butterfly land on the floor, desperately told his son Oscar to quickly step forward. Oscar quickly stepped back. And that was that. A Banded Peacock was no more. Humans-1, Butterflies-0.
But the butterflies fought back. One Moon Moth flew into a man’s face so violently that he was forced into a two handed flap around his stunned face and a quick wipe round with a tissue. Humans-1, Butterflies-1.


There was a brief interlude to the heat when you were guided outside to a small green area, apparently a British Garden, before following the path back inside the dome, but this was really a chance to breathe some cooler air, reprimand your children and check your text messages. On leaving, you were requested to use the full length mirrors to check yourself front and back to ensure no butterflies were hitching a ride to the outside world. At £6.00 including Gift Aid, it is well worth a visit but would have benefitted from a few more feeders and a few more butterflies. It’s been open since April this year and I wonder how many butterflies have escaped since then.
Butterfly Explorers is on until the 26th September.