Key West Butterfly Conservatory

We went back to Key West this morning with our friends Leslie and Bill. This was Bill's first trip to the Keys while Leslie hadn't been here for fifteen years. It was kinda fun to fill them on what we had learned during our week here. We rented an electric car to run around town in -- that in itself was fun and a good way to sight see. We checked out the "official" Southernmost Point in the Continental USA (there is actually a Naval radar station that is further south...) for the obligatory picture.

Then we headed over to the Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservancy that we had missed seeing on our earlier trips. In the anteroom they had several plants that were serving as food for butterfly larva.

Then we went through two sets of double doors into the gardens which were very warm and humid. There were literally hundreds of different butterflies flitting about. We did learn that all of the butterflies are farmed raised and that there average life span is only two weeks! This first one is a Blue Morpho, native to Costa Rica --

We bought a $2 chart that pictured two dozen different butterflies and moths, but most of these were not on pictured on it...

This one is another Costa Rican native that was on the chart, it's called a Hecate Longwing --

We went from the Butterfly Conservancy to many other spots around Key West, but it's late, I'm tired. I'm off to bed!