Exciting things are happening in the Cockrell Butterfly Center! Anita Schiller, Director of the Biocontrol Mosquito Initiative in Harris County Precinct 4 is working with our staff to test an innovative, eco-friendly way to control the population of mosquitoes in Harris Country using a natural predator of everybody’s least favorite insect called the mosquito assassin […]
There is a new addition to the Cockrell Butterfly Center Insect Zoo, a colony of leaf-cutter ants housed in a brand new exhibit! This leaf-cutter ant (Atta cephalotes) colony was acquired by the Cockrell Butterfly Center about 2.5 years ago from Guatemala. It began as a small, “softball-sized” colony that now has grown many times […]
Lecture – Facing the Past – Cases in Forensic Sculpture by Amanda Danning Forensic sculptor Amanda Danning performs facial reconstructions on skulls whose true appearance is unknown. She has worked on the most exciting anthropology finds in North America as well as contemporary criminal cases. Danning’s captivating presentation will combine history and technology, forensics and […]
In 2018, Bugs on Wheels turned 12! For 12 years, Cockrell Butterfly Center and HMNS Education staff members have been driving amazing bugs all over the state of Texas and beyond to teach your kids how to love them. I started the program in 2006 with my entomological counterpart Laurie Pierrel. I would spend my […]
Every year on Valentine’s Day, we in the Cockrell Butterfly Center like to think about all our favorite insects and the methods they use to find mates. From special pheromones to elaborate mating rituals, every insect has a way to find a mate (or more often, multiple mates)! It’s the smell that counts […]
By Theresa Freiburger, Horticulturalist/Greenhouse Manager at the Cockrell Butterfly Center Mimicry, in the biological sense, is when an animal closely resembles another animal or plant. Mimicry happens in all shapes and colors throughout the animal kingdom. Some mimic the environment, like a leaf or a stick, while others have evolved to mimic other insects. What […]
Summer is here and our campers have arrived! As the museum buzzes with activity and excitement this week, we have for your viewing pleasure another installment of our “My Favorite Part About Camp…” series. Some of the Education staff started their careers at HMNS as campers in Xplorations Summer Camps; some of us started as […]
How many of you readers collect something, whether coins, stamps, statues of elephants, vintage firearms, beanie babies (we’re dating ourselves!), shot glasses from places you’ve visited, etc.? Humans seem to have a predilection for collecting things. Some of these collections seem random, or nostalgic, or even silly – but in the case of museums, a […]
Have you seen a numbered butterfly in the Cockrell Butterfly Center today? We’re doing a longevity study to see how long the butterflies in our center are living. If you see a butterfly with a number on it, snap a picture and post it on Instagram with the tag #CBCStudy so that we can see it! […]
They say, “home is where the heart is”, and in my case that is true. However, home is also where you say things like, “Don’t kill that Black Widow. I need it…,” or “So………do you have any plans for that dead armadillo?” My parents live on a working ranch, complete with cows and buzzards, hay […]
