Art in motion at butterfly exhibit

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WASHINGTON -- Something is fluttering in the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and it isn't the 1,000-year-old bones or dead, stuffed animals."Butterflies + Plants: Partners in Evolution" allows visitors to learn about the relationship between the colorful flying creatures and plants over millions of years.Visitors can feel the oasis of an August day after an afternoon rain, complete with heat, humidity, horticulture and hundreds of fluttering butterflies."It is simply breathtaking and magical," said Elizabeth Duggal, associate director of the National Museum of Natural History.This newly opened permanent exhibit is divided into two sections: the exhibition hall and the Butterfly Pavilion.In the main hall is "Partners in Evolution," a tour of the co-evolution of butterflies and plants from the Jurassic period to modern times. Through murals, time lines and photographs, visitors learn how nature has evolved.The 1,200-square-foot Butterfly Pavilion, which accommodates about 35 people at a time, is a temperature- and humidity-controlled environment housing more than 400 butterflies of 30 to 40 species. However, the types of butterflies in the pavilion will vary over the year, said Nathan Erwin, exhibition manager."This is not just your typical butterfly exhibit," said Sally Love Connell, exhibition developer. "We tried to get science stories in here and make connections. We wanted to balance the fun with the learned."Duggal said visitors will learn some surprising tidbits, such as butterflies' close relation to moths."Moths have gotten a bad rap over the years," Duggal said. "Rather than just eating our wool sweaters in the attic, they are beautiful to look at, look so much like their butterfly relatives and are as equally important to the ecosystem."Butterflies also have a little-known love affair with Gatorade, Duggal said. "They adore the drink."This colorful sports drink helps replenish the salt that butterflies need, said Nathan Erwin, exhibition manager, whom David Letterman calls "the Smithsonian Bug Guy."As visitors stroll the "rain forest," they will encounter butterflies flying, often inches from their faces, sipping nectar, roosting and flexing their wings to warm them before flying, Erwin said."They're so beautiful, so different, so close ... so very close," Connell said.Admission to the "Partners in Evolution" component is free. However, adults must pay a fee of $6 to enter the Butterfly Pavilion; the charge is less for children and seniors. The fee, which stirred controversy because of the Smithsonian's always-free policy, is necessary to support the high operating costs, Connell said."It wouldn't be possible without charging people," she said.The Smithsonian's horticulture division is devoting a greenhouse to grow pesticide-free plants for the exhibit.New butterflies must be purchased twice a week from around the world to replace those that die, and additional staff was hired to maintain the exhibit, Connell said. The butterflies have an average lifespan of two to four weeks, Erwin said as a yellow-and-blue emperor swallowtail butterfly from Africa flew by and perched on a leaf.Each week, the museum receives chrysalides from Malaysia, Costa Rica and Africa. The chrysalides are hung in the pavilion, and visitors can witness the final stages of metamorphosis, Erwin said.Visitors are asked to do a "little shake" before leaving the pavilion to ensure they don't have a hitchhiker on their back. Double interlocking doors at the entrance and exit and a blast of air when the doors are opened keep butterflies from escaping.The domelike pavilion has no right angles, which promotes flying, said Elizabeth Musteen, museum project manager. If the dome had corners, the butterflies would congregate in the corners and die, Musteen said."Butterflies aren't rocket scientists," Erwin said.For more information, visit http://www.mnh.si.edu/(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)