By Jeff Cummins, Horticulturalist at the Cockrell Butterfly Center A sea of green surrounds people living in even the most urban environments, and yet almost nobody can see truly the plants. We see the trees, manicured hedges, or notice when our neighbor has taken a little too long to mow the lawn, but that’s […]
Special Exhibition: Sweet – A Tasty Journey Opens May 12th at HMNS At Sugar Land! GET TICKETS Opens May 12, 2017 Unwrap a world of flavorful fun in an interactive and magical setting! Explore the world of all that’s sweet as you learn about candy ingredients from a ‘farm to fork’ perspective. Get the stories […]
One of the most distinctive and easily recognizable insects in the Cockrell Butterfly Center is the rice paper butterfly (Idea leuconoe), also known as the paper kite and the large tree nymph. All these common names allude to the rice paper’s characteristic slow, graceful, and sometimes floppy flight. These butterflies make great, showy additions to […]
The remains of King Richard III, the last English king to die in battle, were discovered under a parking lot and identified in 2013 using DNA, radiocarbon dating and the identification of his distinctive curved spine by a team from the University of Leicester. What science revealed from Richard’s skeleton has triggered a revival of […]
They float on the wind, decorate your back yard in the spring and summer, and inspire warm emotions with their delicate wings. They seem carefree, at home in any meadow, but butterflies have more specific needs than we might imagine. As urban sprawl continues to grow, reducing green space and native plant growth, natural butterfly […]
As the obligate host plants for monarch caterpillars, milkweeds are a staple in any butterfly habitat garden. However, milkweed is not just for monarchs! Many other insects call the genus Asclepias home, giving rise to the concept of a “milkweed village.” Milkweed plants produce bitter tasting toxins called cardiac glycocides, and insects that eat milkweeds […]
My friends Bob and Bev photographed this very faded, tattered female monarch flying around the milkweed plants in their backyard near the Museum last week. The butterfly is a migrant from Mexico, looking for places to lay her eggs as a last hurrah before she dies. She must be very tired! Last fall, she flew […]
