Butterfly center emerges from its metamorphosis

PINE MOUNTAIN, Ga. — Fresh from its own six month, $2 million metamorphosis, the Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center has reopened at Callaway Gardens, a 14,000-acre nature and recreation center in the Appalachian foothills.

The octagonal, dome-shaped glass conservatory, nearly as tall as a four-story building, is home to more than 1,000 tropical butterflies, along with lush flowers that provide the insects with nectar.

Callaway officials expanded the center to accommodate the growing interest in butterflies and to ensure that it remains among North America's top butterfly attractions.

"The best part of the job is seeing the guests — the smiles, the interaction," said conservatory manager Nicole Gamble, an entomologist at the center.

About 750,000 people visit Callaway Gardens each year, and nearly all of them stop in to see the butterflies flutter about, displaying intricately adorned wings in iridescent colors. In addition to the butterflies and gardens, Callaway, located about 70 miles southwest of Atlanta, has biking and nature trails and various resort amenities, including golf courses, tennis, lake swimming and fishing, restaurants, an inn and rental cottages and villas.

Renovation on the butterfly center started in September, with workers adding more tropical plants and doubling the size of the lobby area for movies and lectures.

The dome's interior is maintained at a constant 84 degrees with 70 percent humidity, an ideal rain forest environment for the inhabitants: 50 to 100 species of butterflies, parrots and other tropical birds and 60 plant varieties.

Callaway produces about 30 percent of the butterflies in-house. The rest come from butterfly farms in the tropical rain forests of Malaysia, the Philippines and Central and South America.

Since they are exotic species, Callaway set up a system to ensure they don't escape and harm Georgia's native populations. When a visitor enters the center, an inward blast of air is shot by a machine at the doorway to prevent any butterfly breakouts.

Visitors learn that only moths develop in cocoons; butterflies emerge from chrysalides.

Now that the center has been remodeled, visitors can see workers pinning chrysalides to the roof of emergence boxes in a special area. Butterflies pop open the chrysalides and begin exercising their wings.