The Butterfly Pavilion at the Desert Botanical Garden

Throughout the seasons, you're guaranteed to spot an abundant variety of butterflies across Arizona's wide and diverse landscape. But you don't have to brave extreme temperatures and rugged terrain to see some of the local stars of this colorful insect family. You only have to visit the autumn exhibit in the Butterfly Pavilion at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix.

Within just a few thousand square feet, the protected shelter houses almost a dozen species of native butterflies at any given time. They flutter amid and feed upon a number of cultivated plants and flowers, along with plates of fresh fruit. A path meanders one-way through the greenhouse-like garden, assuring some human safety during the COVID pandemic.

Butterflies, moths, and skimmers are all in the same order of insects, taxonomically known as lepidoptera. Worldwide, scientists count over 200,000 species in this grouping! (In comparison, there are only 10,000 species of birds.)

A sign at the pavilion identifies the much more limited number of species that are usually in residence there. The current tenants weren't raised on site but were probably incubated by a breeder in order to spend their short lives on display. Even though these specimens are considered native to the area, much care is taken to guarantee that they remain restricted to the pavilion.

I quickly saw several butterflies I've observed numerous times in the wild: buckeyes, fritillaries, painted ladies, swallowtails and monarchs. But most impressive were several I have no recollection of ever encountering: zebra longwings and malachites. Both these species are indeed native to southern Arizona but are much more at home in semi-tropical settings throughout Mexico and Central America. The malachite stands out especially because of his green markings, as unique and precious as the gemstone.

I've written that a butterfly is easy to spot, and even approach, but getting one to stay still for a good photograph is often a challenge. That's not a problem in this contained habitat as many gather in tight, lethargic clusters on the vented walls while lone individuals calmly feast on the ample supply of fresh nectar.

One common butterfly around Phoenix is the queen. While she was featured on the identification poster, she was nowhere to be seen in the display. However on my walk through the sprawling botanical garden just before entering the pavilion, I noticed quite a few queen butterflies along the nearby Wildflower Loop Trail. Exhibit escapees? Highly unlikely as even in the middle of the Phoenix metropolis, the desert landscape is fertile ground for these critters.