Butterflies Go Free
Encyclopedia
Butterflies Go Free is an annual exhibit at the Jardin Botanique de Montreal
, featuring thousands of live tropical butterflies
and moth
s released in the Grande Serre of the exhibition greenhouses. The insects are purchased in caterpillar
and egg
form from sustainable
butterfly farms.
The exhibit, which was first shown in 1997, is presented each year from February to April.
Jardin botanique de Montréal
The Montreal Botanical Garden is a large botanical garden in Montreal, Quebec, Canada comprising of thematic gardens and greenhouses. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2008 as it is considered to be one of the most important botanical gardens in the world due to the extent...
, featuring thousands of live tropical butterflies
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
and moth
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
s released in the Grande Serre of the exhibition greenhouses. The insects are purchased in caterpillar
Caterpillar
Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...
and egg
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
form from sustainable
Sustainable agriculture
Sustainable agriculture is the practice of farming using principles of ecology, the study of relationships between organisms and their environment...
butterfly farms.
The exhibit, which was first shown in 1997, is presented each year from February to April.