The Cockrell Butterfly Center has a plant that’s about to make a big stink! Her name is Meg, named after the prehistoric Megalodon shark featured at the museum’s new SHARKS! exhibit. Meg is an Amorphophallus titanum, also called the Titan Arum but more commonly known as the corpse flower. You might remember our most famous […]
Editor’s Note: Not quite sure what to do with those holiday plants? Jeff Cummins of the Cockrell Butterfly Center lends a few suggestions. The winter holiday season has ended, the decorations are packed up for next year, the house is more or less back to normal, and we’ve [mostly] recovered from the festivities… but what […]
Now that the holiday season is upon us, let’s get to know a plant commonly associated with the festivities, the Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima). Native to Mexico, they are known as ‘Flor de la Noche Buena’, or ‘Flower of the Holy Night’. Poinsettias are members of the Spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. A little fact: Euphorbia is named […]
Not everyone thinks bugs are cute… but what about their babies?! Just like their vertebrate counterparts, baby bugs will often elicit an “awwwwwww!” Many of the residents of the Cockrell Butterfly Center’s insect zoo were bred and raised in-house (especially Orthoptera and Phasmida). Eggs are collected and incubated until tiny little babies hatch out. Their […]
Most reading this are familiar with the life cycle of a butterfly. An egg is laid on its host plant, the egg hatches into a caterpillar, the caterpillar eats the plant, the caterpillar forms a chrysalis, and then an adult butterfly emerges to continue the cycle. It’s easy to think of the plants in this […]
The plant cart in the museum is a great place to find some interesting plants and Greenhouse Manager Soni Holladay has curated a list of what you may want to grab on your next trip to the HMNS Museum Store. We regularly stock the cart with blooming annuals and perennials that feed pollinators like native […]
It’s springtime, and we all know what that means! Bright and cheerful flora; adorable, baby animals; a newfound will to embrace the mentality that life is a breath of fresh air/a box of chocolates/any other idiom that instills hope and wonder… But also… stinging caterpillars. The gift that keeps on giving… rashes, burning sensations, nausea, […]
We know. Mother’s Day is right around the corner and everyone is scrambling for the perfect, last-minute gifts. While it’s tempting to play it safe ordering a few random presents from big box stores or mega online retailers, the Museum Store has your back with unique, handcrafted gifts from some of mom’s favorite local artists. […]
Are you looking for a different way to decorate with pumpkins this year? I don’t know about you, but I’m a little tired of cutting the same old triangle eyes and toothy smile. Why not try something new and turn your pumpkins into fall planters? Pumpkins make awesome flower pots. Follow these simple steps to […]
There is a new addition to the Cockrell Butterfly Center Insect Zoo, a colony of leaf-cutter ants housed in a brand new exhibit! This leaf-cutter ant (Atta cephalotes) colony was acquired by the Cockrell Butterfly Center about 2.5 years ago from Guatemala. It began as a small, “softball-sized” colony that now has grown many times […]
