Saturday, July 30, 2011

Fresh Sheet – July 30, 2011


Five hundred eleven more reasons to visit Pacific Science Center!



Philippines

06 - Papilio palinurus (Banded Peacock)
15 - Papilio rumanzovia (Crimson Swallowtail)
80 - Papilio lowii (Sunset Swallowtail)
42 - Papilio hipponus (Hipponus Swallowtail)
80 - Idea leuconoe (Paper Kite)
20 - Graphium agamemnon (Tailed Jay)
20 - Pachliopta kotzeboea (Pink Rose)
60 - Doleschalia bisaltide (Autumn Leaf)
50 - Parthenos sylvia philippensis (The Clipper)
50 - Papilio polytes (Polite Swallowtail)
08 - Cethosia biblis (Red Lacewing)
80 - Hypolimnas bolina (Blue moon)

Total = 511

“Fresh Sheet” is our weekly shipment report of pupae on display in the emerging window. Visit Pacific Science Center’s Tropical Butterfly House and meet our newest residents.


Read more!

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Fresh Sheet – July 23, 2011


The Tropical Butterfly House will be full of Tigers soon – Tiger Leafwings, Tiger Longwings and Large Tigers – not to mention Leopard Lacewings! Can you tell them apart?



El Salvador

25 - Battus belus (Belus Swallowtail)
20 - Caligo memnon (Owl Butterfly)
30 - Consul fabius (Tiger Leafwing)
10 - Dryadula phaetusa (Banded Orange Heliconian)
20 - Heliconius hecale (Tiger Longwing)
07 - Heliconius ismenius (Ismenius Longwing)
08 - Lycorea cleobaea (Large Tiger)
60 - Morpho peleides (Blue Morpho)
80 - Morpho polyphemus (White Morpho)
40 - Myscelia ethusa (Royal Blue Butterfly)
10 - Papilio erostratus (Dusky Swallowtail)
10 - Prepona=Archeoprepona demophon (One-spotted Prepona)
30 - Prepona=Archeoprepona omphale (Blue Belly-Button)

Total = 350

LPS LLC

05 - Argema mimosa (African Moon Moth)
10 - Athyma perius (Common Sergeant)
10 - Catopsilia scylla (Orange Emigrant)
20 - Cethosia cyane (Leopard Lacewing)
10 - Charaxes cithaeron (Blue-spotted Charexes)
30 - Hypolimnas bolina (Blue moon)
10 - Junonia atlites (Gray Pansy)
10 - Pachliopta kotzeboea (Pink Rose)
10 - Papilio constantinus (Constantines's Swallowtail)
10 - Papilio dardanus (Mocker Swallowtail)
10 - Papilio lowii (Sunset Swallowtail)
10 - Papilio memnon (Great Memnon)
20 - Papilio nireus (Blue-banded Swallowtail)
10 - Papilio polytes (Polite Swallowtail)
10 -Parthenos sylvia lilacinus (Blue Clipper)
20 - Parthenos sylvia philippensis (The Clipper)
10 - Parthenos sylvia violaceae (Violet Clipper)
10 - Tirumala limniace (Blue Tiger)

Total = 225

Grand Total = 575


“Fresh Sheet” is our weekly shipment report of pupae on display in the emerging window. Visit Pacific Science Center’s Tropical Butterfly House and meet our newest residents.

Read more!

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Fresh Sheet – July 16, 2011


Another 517 pupae have arrived from Costa Rica this week. Is your favorite butterfly among them?



Costa Rica

17 - Archeoprepona demophon (One-spotted Prepona)
08 - Caligo eurilochus (Forest Giant Owl)
08 - Caligo memnon (Owl Butterfly)
23 - Catonephele numilia (Numilia)
09 - Chlosyne janais (Crimson Patch)
42 - Danaus plexippus (The Monarch)
30 - Dryadula phaetusa (Banded Orange Heliconian)
23 - Dryas iulia (Julia Longwing)
10 - Eueudes isabella (Isabella’s Longwing)
27 - Greta oto (Glasswing)
45 - Hamadryas feronia (Variable Calico)
13 - Heliconius charitonius (Zebra Longwing)
46 - Heliconius doris (Doris Longwing)
59 - Heliconius hecale (Tiger Longwing)
10 - Heliconius melpomene (Postman)
38 - Heraclides anchisiades (Ruby-spotted Swallowtail)
27 - Hypna clytemnestra (Silver-studded Leafwing)
44 - Morpho peleides (Blue Morpho)
10 - Myselia cyaniris (Blue Wave Butterfly)
20 - Siproeta stelenes(Malachite)

Total 517

“Fresh Sheet” is our weekly shipment report of pupae on display in the emerging window. Visit Pacific Science Center’s Tropical Butterfly House and meet our newest residents.


Read more!

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Fresh Sheet – July 9, 2011


Come, check out this week’s shipments of pupae from sustainable butterfly farms in Central and South America.



Suriname

05 - Parides lysander (Lysander cattleheart)
35 - Heraclides thoas (Thoas Swallowtail)
40 - Heraclides anchisiades (Ruby-spotted Swallowtail)
05 - Papilio androgeus (Androgeus Swallowtail)
08 - Papilio torquatus (Band-gapped Swallowtail)
40 - Heliconius melpomene (Postman)
20 - Catonephele orites (Orange-banded shoemaker)
32 - Anartia amathea (Scarlet Peacock)
20 - Caligo memnon (Owl Butterfly)
40 - Phoebis sennae (Cloudless Sulphur)

Total = 270

El Salvador

24 - Battus belus (Belus Swallowtail)
15 - Caligo memnon (Owl Butterfly)
25 - Catonephele numilia (Numilia)
10 - Consul fabius (Tiger Leafwing)
15 - Heliconius hecale (Tiger Longwing)
10 - Heliconius hortense (Mountain Longwing)
10 - Lycorea cleobaea (Large Tiger)
80 - Morpho peleides (Blue Morpho)
40 - Morpho polyphemus (White Morpho)
08 - Myselia cyaniris (Blue Wave Butterfly)
25 - Myscelia ethusa (Royal Blue Butterfly)
10 - Papilio erostratus (Dusky Swallowtail)
10 - Papilio pilumnus (Three-tailed Swallowtail)
15 - Prepona demophon (One-spotted Prepona)
10 - Prepona omphale (Blue Belly-Button)

Total = 307

Grand Total = 577

“Fresh Sheet” is our weekly shipment report of pupae on display in the emerging window. Visit Pacific Science Center’s Tropical Butterfly House and meet our newest residents.


Read more!

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Rosie the Riveting


Last week we received a frantic report from Pacific Science Center’s Science Interpretation Department. Rosie, our beloved Chilean Rose-Hair Tarantula was dead! When asked how they knew she was dead, the observer reported that she was upside down, with all eight of her legs sticking straight up into the air. Obviously she must be dead, right? Right?



We’ll share the good news first. Rosie was not dead. She was getting ready to molt. Like other arthropods, tarantulas molt, or shed, their exoskeleton as they grow. As an adult, Rosie will usually molt about once a year. Younger tarantulas molt much more frequently to accommodate their rapid growth.

The Life Sciences department was actually anticipating molting activity from Rosie. We had noticed a few months ago that her color was getting dark and dull, and the hairs on her abdomen were becoming sparser. When tarantulas are ready to molt, they usually prefer to be in a dark, moist, and safe habitat. Because we noticed that Rosie was at this stage, we decided to move her off exhibit to give her more privacy.


This move worked well because it was just at the same time that we were gearing up for the Goosebumps exhibit and we had just acquired a second tarantula that could take her place. So Carmen, the beautiful new tarantula, went out into the Insect Village while Rosie took her time in the back. We had hoped she would molt before the Goosebumps exhibit opened, but she just wasn’t ready yet. When the exhibit opened, we set her up in a new cage and offered her extra heat and an enclosed burrow for whenever she decided she was ready.


Finally the day came that she flipped herself upside down, a telltale sign that a spider is about to molt, but also a possible indication that a spider is dead. This is an extremely delicate and dangerous time for a spider, so we couldn’t probe her to make sure she was alive. All we could do was cross our fingers and hope for the best. Sure enough, when we came in the next morning, we found a beautiful new Rosie. She’s back to her pretty rose color for which she was named, and she’s flush with healthy hair. In fact, she’s so beautiful now, she’s giving Carmen a run for her money.



Come see Rosie and some of her other spooky (but beautiful friends) for a limited time in the Goosebumps exhibit. There’s nothing to be scared of!



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Tuesday, July 5, 2011

It Was a Dark and Stormy Spring


Normally, Pacific Science Center’s bee keeper orders new colonies of bees in mid April, raises them in conventional hives until May, and installs them near the middle of that month.

This year, due to cool, wet weather, the schedule kept getting pushed back, but finally in June we had enough warmth to risk taking the bees out of their boxes and transferring them to the observation hive.



There are risks to the bees as we transfer their comb from one place to another. Cold air can chill the larvae, or brood, developing in the cells. If badly chilled, brood may be killed. We chose the warmest day we could, but it was still below the 60 degrees we would have hoped for. We worked carefully to avoid crushing bees between the frame and the glass covers on the observation hive, and transferred the entire structure even more carefully. Dropping it would have resulted in broken glass, escaping bees, the loss of the entire colony – not to mention honey on the carpet.


The observation hive is installed above an exit tube allowing the bees to come and go. From there they fly around Seattle Center’s grounds, seeking nectar and pollen producing plants. In case they couldn’t find much, we placed a jar of sugar water near the entrance to the comb, inside a weather proof box. The bees can survive on this syrup until they become established, at which point the nectar from locally grown lavender, ceanothus, butterfly bush, and other garden plantings will sustain them.


During the month to six weeks the bees spent in a hive box before we got them, they were given several preventive treatments. Traces of one such treatment can be seen on the side of the hive facing the butterfly house. The waxed paper between two of the frames was originally topped with a mixture of shortening and powdered sugar. As the bees transported this substance, it coated their skins, making them more resistant to the tracheal mites that are among the many pests and diseases troubling modern beekeepers and their bees.


So far the bees are adjusting well. Their brood is developing correctly, with no sign of being chilled. Workers are actively entering and leaving, and new food is being collected and stored. We wish our bees success!


Read more!

Friday, July 1, 2011

Fresh Sheet – July 1, 2011


Swallowtails, swallowtails, swallowtails, swallowtails and a whole lot of other butterflies will soon be emerging in our window at the Tropical Butterfly House.



Philippines

10 - Cethosia biblis (Red Lacewing)
15 - Danaus chrysippus (Plain Tiger)
06 - Doleschalia bisaltide (Autumn Leaf)
03 - Graphium agamemnon (Tailed Jay)
80 - Hypolimnas bolina (Blue moon)
73 - Idea leuconoe (Paper Kite)
80 - Papilio lowii (Sunset Swallowtail)
02 - Papilio palinurus (Banded Peacock)
13 - Papilio polytes (Polite Swallowtail)
79 - Papilio rumanzovia (Crimson Swallowtail)
30 - Parthenos sylvia philippensis (The Clipper)

Total = 391

“Fresh Sheet” is our weekly shipment report of pupae on display in the emerging window. Visit Pacific Science Center’s Tropical Butterfly House and meet our newest residents.

Read more!