Photos & Video: Butterflies Flock To New House

April 7, 2014

Locals can stop by and watch some of nature’s most beautiful creatures, thanks to a new Butterfly House set up at Brighton Nurseries in Devonshire.

Surrounded by flowering plants suitable for attracting butterflies, the aim of the ‘Butterfly House’ is to educate people as well as provide some basic information on butterflies found around Bermuda.

Mr. Robin Marirea thought of the concept, and spoke with Eddie Simas who agreed to use his business Brighton Nurseries as a location, and help to put Mr. Marirea’s dream of building a Butterfly House into reality.

An old shed on the property was converted during the Plant Nurseries quieter winter season, with the work involving installing brick stone walls, stripping the old roof and replacing with shade cloth and installing butterfly loving plants from Brighton Nurseries and Mr. Marirea’s personal collection.

Mandy Roberts-Simas and Asha Bicarie helped by painting some bright signs to transform the outside, while Beverly Shaw and Ms. Roberts-Simas helped making the approach clear and more attractive.

Installation of information boards provide basic information for visual learning and a laminated book is also available for those wanting more detailed information.

A spokesperson said, “Much advice, encouragement and assistance has been given by many people including Ras Mykkal and Drew Pettit of Conservation Services, both of who have had a passion for butterflies in Bermuda and have shared much information and advice for this project.

“We have had much interest from taxi drivers, tour operators and schools so far as well as our regular customers, and we would appreciate if people could make small a donation to keep everything maintained and the plants fresh.

“We have a student volunteer from Warwick Academy, Zara Cardell who is helping with maintenance and manning the Butterfly House for opening times Wednesdays and Saturdays through April.”

According to the Department of Conservation, the island’s only endemic butterfly is the Bermuda Buckeye Butterfly, with the light olive-brown sub-species [Junonia coenia bergi] only found in Bermuda.

Brighton Nurseries Butterfly House:

To attracting the Bermuda Buckeye to your garden, the Department of Conservation recommends allowing Plantain and Capeweed to grow in unmown areas of lawn.

Another type of butterfly found in Bermuda is the Monarch, which is both resident and migrant. The local population was first noted in 1847 when a population was seen breeding all year.

Video of inside the Butterfly House and some of its residents:

The Monarch Butterfly has bright orange wings with wide black borders and black veins and the typical wing span is 3 3/8 to 4 7/8 inches.

To attract Monarch butterflies to your garden, the Department of Conservation advises you plant the yellow and red-flowered Bloodflower, yellow-flowered Butterfly Milkweed and the white-flowered Ballonplant.

The Butterfly House is free to enter, and is open to the public on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons and is also available on an appointment basis. For more information contact Brighton Nurseries on 236-5862.

Click to enlarge photos