Fresh Sheet – December 29, 2012

Our last pupae shipment of the year contains many large Owl species and lots of those elusive, little Greta oto (Glasswing) butterflies.

Costa Rica

09 - Agraulis vanilla (Gulf Fritllary)
10 - Anartia fatima (Banded Peacock)
09 - Anteos chlorinde (White Angled Sulphur)
20 - Battus polydamas (Polydamus Swallowtail)
14 - Brassolis isthmia (Small-spotted Owl)
17 - Caligo atreus (Yellow-Edged Giant-Owl)
17 - Caligo memnon (Owl Butterfly)
09 - Catonephele numilia (Numilia)
15 - Consul fabius (Tiger Leafwing)
21 - Danaus plexippus (The Monarch)
37 - Dryadula phaetusa (Banded Orange Heliconian)
30 - Dryas iulia (Julia Longwing)
07 - Eueudes isabella (Isabella’s Longwing)
28 - Greta oto (Glasswing)
07 - Hamadryas amphinome (Red Calico)
09 - Hamadryas februa (Gray Calico)
13 - Hamadryas laodamia (Starry Calico)
12 - Heliconius cydno (Cydno Longwing)
25 - Heliconius doris (Doris Longwing)
15 - Heliconius erato (Small Postman)
10 - Heliconius hecale (Tiger Longwing)
16 - Heliconius ismenius (Ismenius Longwing)
15 - Heliconius melpomene (Postman)
11 - Heliconius sapho (Sapho Longwing)
23 - Heraclides anchisiades (Ruby-spotted Swallowtail)
32 - Hypna clytemnestra (Silver-studded Leafwing)
44 - Morpho peleides (Blue Morpho)
10 - Myscelia cyaniris (Blue Wave Butterfly)
22 - Nessaea aglaura (Aglaura Olivewing)
09 - Opsiphanes quiteria (Scalloped Owl)
17 - Parides iphidamas (Transandean Cattleheart)
08 - Philaethria dido (Scarce Bamboo Page)
33 - Siproeta stelenes (Malachite)

Total = 589

“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.
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Baby Arthropods

It's winter, it's gloomy, and so who doesn't want to think about baby spiders overwintering in a silken sack with their mom? The Giant Crab Spider has produced a wonderful egg case. You can see it up against the front right corner of the cage. Unfortunately for us viewers, Mom is inside there with the babies. She guards them all through their development and will stay with them until they hatch.

The baby Millipedes featured earlier are growing rapidly. Take a look. Their first few sheds will be the most dramatic, but they will continue to grow for several years, until hopefully we have some giants to display.





Our Madagascar Hissing Cockroach colony is thriving, and it just welcomed new additions. Mad Hissers are ovoviviparous, meaning they incubate and hatch their eggs inside the body and then "give birth" to live young. The babies begin life white, but gain pigment in the first few hours outside their mom.





Meanwhile, two other species have produced eggs but so far haven't hatched babies. The Domino Cockroaches produced a fine egg case. And several Blue Death-feigning Beetles laid eggs on the sand in their exhibit but then vanished into burrows where we believe they may be producing more eggs.

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Happy Birthday Tropical Butterfly House!

Pacific Science Center will be close on Christmas but on Wednesday, December 26, we will celebrate the Tropical Butterfly House's fourteenth birthday. As in the past, the Life Sciences staff is throwing a birthday party for the butterflies. Everyone’s invited!

In honor of the occasion, a colorful birthday fruit "cake" will be offered to our fruit eating Lepidoptera.

Science Interpreters will be on hand to answer questions about our butterflies and plants. As always, entrance to the Tropical Butterfly House is free with admission to Pacific Science Center. Please join us at the warmest, friendliest place in Seattle on Wednesday. Bring friends and family and help us celebrate fourteen years of beauty.

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Festivus 2012

Today, as in the past two years, our Naked Mole Rat family is celebrating Festivus. This year the Naked Mole Rats are applauding their move and two new enrichment additions to their chambers: One for digging and one for climbing.

Watch them perform Feats of Strength!

Witness the annual Airing of Grievances!

The Festivus Tree will be out again so come by and have fun with the most curious critters at Pacific Science Center!

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