Hope’s Animal Adventure: Costa Rica Butterfly Sanctuary

On April 25, 2017 we visited La Casa de la Morpho Azul Mariposario in Guacima, Alajuela, Costa Rica. Here is Hope’s experience at the Butterfly Sanctuary.

This butterfly sanctuary has hundreds of butterflies and many were big and small and colorful.

We were helped by two workers named Jenny and her son Raymond, who was only 9 years old.

Raymond knew so much about butterflies!

He caught butterflies for us to hold and he also told us about the colors, shapes, and sizes of the butterflies in the sanctuary.

Raymond showing Hope how to hold a butterfly with two fingers.

Thankfully Paula translated for us. His mom Jenny knew some English and helped us too.

One of the large butterflies looks like a snake on one side and the other side is blue.

The front and back of the beautiful Morpho Mariposa Butterfly

The side that looks like a snake helps to protect the butterfly from predators. The predators are afraid of snakes so they leave the butterflies alone.

The enclosure for the butterflies was covered in netting so the butterflies can’t get away, and predators can’t get in. Normally, butterflies live for one or two weeks in the wild, but in the sanctuary they can live for up to two months.

The lifecycle of the butterfly starts as an egg that grows and hatches.

Then a larva comes out and they eat the leaves as they slowly turn into a caterpillar.

Next they hang upside down so their chrysalis can form which takes weeks and weeks.

At this point the chrysalis rests and sometimes it moves left and right so you know it is alive. Here is a video of the movement within the chrysalis.

You know it is ready to hatch when the chrysalis is clear and you can see the butterfly. When it hatches, it slowly starts to move its wings. If they are not lucky they get eaten or killed, but lots survive.

The butterfly sanctuary is filled with plants and flowers and butterflies.

There are little wooden stands with rotting mango and smooshed banana with sugar. The butterflies eat these fruits and nectar from flowers.

After adult butterflies lay eggs they die. Ironically, when we were driving to Mariposario Lily called it a butterfly “cemetery.” We laughed, but it is actually true! They collect the dead butterflies and put them into decorations and even jewelry like necklaces. I got one so you will see me wearing it.

This box of butterflies from Peru are beautiful. Some will be mounted on displays and others made into Jewelry.

I liked how beautiful the sanctuary was and I was excited that I got to hold some butterflies. You hold them with two fingers very lightly. And then you can let them fly away.