The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History will unveil two summer exhibits: Butterflies Alive! and Prehistoric Forest, Saturday, May 25, at 2559 Puesta del Sol.
This summer will mark the museum’s first full run of Butterflies Alive! following $20 million renovations supported by its Centennial Campaign. Visitors will be guided through a garden while nearly 1,000 live butterflies flutter freely around them.
The exhibit features a variety of butterflies, from local favorites like the Monarch and Queen to exotic tropical varieties like swallowtails, longwings and white peacocks.
Various butterfly species will cycle through the pavilion throughout the summer, so no two visits will be the same.
Visitors can learn about the butterfly lifecycle by checking out the emergence chamber in the museum’s Santa Barbara Gallery. There, visitors will see how butterflies emerge from their chrysalides and dry their wings before being moved to the pavilion.
Visitors who cross the museum’s wooden bridges over Mission Creek will enter Prehistoric Forest and take a stroll back in time to come face-to-face with dinosaurs in the wild.
They’ll meet a Tyrannosaurus rex, the armored Stegosaurus, high-crested Parasaurolophus, and Triceratops and Ankylosaurus mothers with their young. These handcrafted moving animatronics from Kokoro Exhibits spark the imaginations of dinosaur-lovers.
Both exhibits are open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, May 25-Monday, Sept. 2, and are included in museum admission.
— Briana Sapp Tivey for Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.