Well, several of you have asked about what I do at MOSI and what it looks like so I took some pics yesterday to give you an idea. Let's start the tour!
When I was a kid, MOSI was just one building. But they've added a whole building just for kids, an IMAX theater, and the MOSI Outside area which includes the butterfly exhibit, the Historic Tree Grove, and the Backwoods area. I've been volunteering since June 2008 (with a break from Feb 2011 to Nov 2012 due to disability). I pretty much stick to the butterfly exhibit and the lab where we raise the caterpillars. I don't do any gardening and I only go to the Backwoods to search for caterpillars. I'm there every Sunday morning for as long as I feel like it. MOSI has regular volunteers (mostly teenagers on the weekends) but the MOSI Outside volunteers are a separate group. Since we have to have specialized knowledge as well as a certain level of maturity, my boss doesn't let just anyone volunteer for her team.
When I started, I had already been raising caterpillars on my own for a year. I had a job back then, working as an accountant for the county government, but I had been looking for somewhere to volunteer. I was reading the paper one day at work and scanning things to do for Mother's Day. I called Mom and asked if she wanted to go for a dolphin cruise at the aquarium or have tea with the butterflies at MOSI. Mom chose the butterflies. We had a great time, but I noticed there was no one tending the butterflies. I thought, "They should have a volunteer here!" Then, my brain answered, "Why don't you be that volunteer?" We don't put on the teas anymore because apparently they lost money on them. My boss said I was the only good thing that came out of those events.
So MOSI is right across the street from the University of South Florida in north Tampa. I grew up in north Tampa and my elementary school took trips to MOSI. I also went with the Girl Scouts. I was in gifted classes and we competed in the yearly Science Olympics at MOSI. Lately, the owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team has been talking to the county about moving MOSI downtown. He wants to revitalize downtown; I think it's a terrible idea. MOSI doesn't pay taxes on the land it sits on, which is owned by the county. My boss talked to one of the commissioners who was on the board when they moved MOSI to its current location back in the early '80s. The whole point was that the land was mostly wetlands so they thought a science museum could incorporate environmental education into its mission. Also, north Tampa was a good location for an underserved population. That's a nice way of saying I grew up in a poor neighborhood. So there's your background. Let's get to the pictures, already!
So the butterfly exhibit, lab, and classroom are all separate from the main building. My boss used to have an office in the main museum, but they converted some space so she now has her own cocoon of an office to hide in. She loves it. This is what it looks like if you approach from the closer parking lot, or walk over from the main building. Yes, that's a Zebra Longwing. And yes, it can totally flap its wings if they turn it on. I think the motor doesn't work well because they rarely have it on and last time it was making some pretty loud creaking noises.
If you look to the right, you can see the entrance to the exhibit. It's like a large screened in patio with a smaller screened in patio. You'll see in a minute. The door there with the sign on it is the door to the lab. The sign lets it be known that only MOSI Entomology staff are allowed. We have been known to shelter the other volunteers during lightning storms, though.
I'm often the first volunteer people see because they have to walk by the gardens to get to the main building. See the sign that's purple on the back? That's the main walkway to the museum. So when I'm out there trying to net butterflies, I feel like literally everyone is watching me.
We do have an entrance on the other side, but most people use the one I just showed you. And yes, we have another giant Zebra Longwing on the building. The window looks into the classroom (that's where we had the Mother's Day tea). The door you see is my boss' office. It's like a man cave, but for all things butterflies. Oh yeah, and check out the awesome butterfly benches. They've taken to dressing up the frog statue to match the season or holidays, too.
Let's head in! There's the boss' door on the left. We installed a lot of new informational signs a couple of years ago and they're holding up really well. The Florida sun fades things very quickly so they must have coated them with something really strong because they still look great.
Walking in, you have the classroom behind the glass double doors. It's air-conditioned, so it's much loved by volunteers and guests. The rule is that if the flight cage has guests in it, a volunteer must be in there to keep people from hurting the butterflies. But if no one is in there, they can literally chill out in the classroom. The "wall" between the classroom and the flight cage is a big glass window so people can sit in the classroom and watch the butterflies. We also have a TV monitor that plays a slide show my boss created. It covers host plants, caterpillars, butterflies, and lots of fun facts. We also have a microscope set up to a TV monitor and we lay out dead butterfly specimens so people can see them under magnification. The monitor hasn't been working lately, though. We also have brochures about how to start your own butterfly garden. The screen door is one entrance to the flight cage. There are doors on each side. We used to have screens that people walked through to keep the butterflies in, but now we have chains. If the exhibit is open, we prop open the doors and the chains are "supposed" to keep the butterflies in, but we'll get to that in a minute.
To the left is a relatively new (about a year) exhibit, the "Savage Garden". Some donor gave us a whole lot of money to build a carnivorous plant exhibit. Seriously, I was there one weekend right after the plants were delivered and I saw the invoice and was like
But not our money! We also have other bog-type plants in there like orchids, Catesby Lily, Tillandsias, Cardinal Flower, etc.
Now, out front we have these big tubs that catch rain water and we have this whole setup that's supposed to explain how nature filters water through wetlands and such. The end result is the pond exhibit behind the walkway. FYI, the carnivorous plant exhibit is exclusively watered with water from our exhibit because hose water would kill them or something. Seriously, my boss gave strict instructions that no one ever water that exhibit.
Of course, we have stuff in the pond exhibit. Plants that naturally filter the water. But also turtles and fish! The turtles are mostly Red-Eared Sliders we've adopted to keep people from releasing them in the wild. They're not native and are better at competing for food than our native turtles. They finally made it illegal for people to sell the dang things at the mall. Or anywhere, I think. We also have koi. We have smaller fish like minnows, mollies, and swordtails. The system is self contained so no, I don't have to feed the fish or turtles. Also, people do not know the difference between a minnow and a tadpole. Also, it's sad how excited some kids get over seeing fish and turtles and then I think, "Well, maybe they don't have a dad who took them fishing all the time as a kid." FYI, that's the flight cage on the right. See what I mean about it being like a patio inside a screened in enclosure?
The native irises just finished blooming, but the ginger blooms a few times per year. We had to put a little fence over there in the corner because the turtles kept climbing up the ginger and onto the pavement. Personally, I enjoyed throwing them back in. Once, I even found a crayfish! I swept it into the dustbin and then tipped the dustbin over the water. I wasn't about to try and touch that thing! If you haven't noticed by now, we also have large wall hangings with nature quotes on them.
Okay, now we've walked around to the other side and you can see the other door to the flight cage, as well as the doors on the other side of the classroom. This is the side I usually come in because it's closest to the lab.
Speaking of the lab, here it is from the outside. Guests are not allowed in, but they can look at chrysalises and caterpillars through the glass. I hate when I'm in there working and some kid starts banging on the glass. It makes me sympathetic to fish at pet stores. Oh, the little squares on the tanks and in the chrysalis window (the left side) are tags that show what butterfly the caterpillar or chrysalis will turn into.
Let's go inside the lab, shall we? Well, you can see all the tanks we use for the caterpillars. And the little chrysalis boxes. The guests can see me, but I can see them, too! I try to keep an eye out for people and come out and talk if I'm not in the middle of something.
Looking from the other corner, you can see we have a sink where I do lots of cleaning. A huge part of my job is cleaning. Not so glamorous, but a clean lab is a healthy lab.
Here's a closer look at the tanks and the chrysalis box wall. I am constantly trying to convince people that all of our chrysalises are alive, real, and will actually become butterflies one day. I don't know why people would think we'd have fake ones. A few months ago I saw a couple of boys trying to take pictures of the Monarch chrysalises through the window, so I just brought them out and let them take some good pictures. I can be nice like that, but honestly, I was intrigued to see two boys who appeared to be about twelve so interested in chrysalises. I try to remain unbiased, but we all have our own preconceptions.
So let's talk about stuff I do. The first thing I usually do is free the butterflies that have emerged. You can see I had a lot of Great Southern Whites awaiting me.
The worst part of the job is euthanizing butterflies that didn't make it. In this case, it was a Giant Swallowtail and a Buckeye. If you must know, I use scissors to cut their heads off. It's quick, and better than being eaten alive.
I got into several conversations yesterday with guests about how it's not "powder" on butterfly wings, it's scales. Unfortunately, the microscope in the classroom wasn't working so I couldn't show them. But they're actually scales that sit like little roof tiles on top of each other. You can touch a butterfly's wings and not kill it, but you will rub off their scales. Less scales means they don't look as attractive to a potential mate, they may not look as poisonous to birds, and I'd imagine they can't absorb as much solar energy. This is what my finger looked like after touching the Giant ST. Keep in mind, it was fighting me, so I got a lot more than I would have if I caught a butterfly with my hands (which I ended up doing like three times yesterday).
In happier tasks, I have to pin the chrysalises to the top of the boxes. I take a straight pin and put it through the silk. That's another question I get...well, two. First, a lot of kids don't know what a straight pin is so they ask what that yellow (or whatever the color of the head of the pin) dot is. Then, I get asked if the pin is through the chrysalis, and I'm always like, "No, that would kill it." Although, I've done it accidentally before. I hate that. This is a Monarch chrysalis, FYI.
So the best part is probably releasing the butterflies, although my favorite part is caterpillar hunting. I usually release the butterflies first thing because I like to do it when guests aren't around. I know, you would think I'd like to show off in front of the guests. But, sometimes the butterflies are ready to fly and sometimes they're not. If they're not, I usually get them to crawl on my finger, then I hang them on a plant to dry. But if people see me touching the butterflies, they think they can do it, and they can't. I always release any butterfly that emerged before I leave and if there are people around, I tell them I'm a professional and make sure I show them that I only let the legs touch me, not the wings. Of course, then I get idiots who want the butterfly to crawl on their finger. If there aren't too many people around, and the person is not being a jerk, and seems genuinely interested, I will sometimes let them do it so they can take an awesome photo. But it depends what kind of mood I'm in and how crowded it is. Okay, so here's a Monarch that just emerged. You can see its body is swollen with fluid that it will pump into its wings. They take a couple of hours to fully harden up. FYI, my number one job is to protect the living creatures so if I have to get stern or downright rude, I will.
Here I am in the flight cage releasing all those Great Southern Whites. Why didn't we pin them in the little boxes? Well first, we're running low on boxes. But mostly, it's because even though GSW build little slings, they use a paltry amount of silk to do it. So it's really hard to get enough silk to pin them with. Therefore, we toss them in a pop-up.
Remember how I said butterflies get out of the flight cage? Well, they usually just fly around the outer enclosure, although one of the screen panels came loose so some of them have made it all the way outside. But another one of my jobs is to round up all the escapees. This Monarch was flat out taunting me. Right on the door like he wants back in! I granted his request.
Let's go inside the flight cage! This is the view looking at the classroom. On the far left we have ID guides so the guests can try to ID the butterflies. We also use the tags like we have on the tanks to post what's currently flying. The plants are a mix of host and nectar plants. That's a Kumquat in the middle (host for Giant ST) and there's Pipevine and Passion Vine growing up the trellis on the right side. The fruit station (the hanging orange slices) are for butterflies that prefer fruit, like the Malachites. Viceroys and Red-Spotted Purples, too, but we rarely have those.
You can't see it, but up above we have a heat lamp for the rare nights and days it gets in the 40's or lower. Okay, this is looking the other way. The flight cage isn't too large and when it gets busy, it gets crowded. That there is my bench. Literally. I will kick people off it. I do it in a nice way, though. Usually like, "I have fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue and can I please sit down for a minute?" I share, too! I also like to sit there and bring a caterpillar out of the lab to show people. It also puts me at kid height which is pretty useful.
The boss tends to change up the flight cage about every three months. Some plants are in there permanently, like the larger shrubs or small trees. But the nectar plants and the smaller host plants get changed frequently. We also do holiday themes and stuff.
We raise the vast majority of our butterflies and moths right there at MOSI which makes us very different from most exhibits that order from butterfly farms. We are friends with some butterfly farms, but we usually trade for fun. Sometimes we get "special guests" as I call them. We've never had a butterfly or moth that wasn't native to Florida, but we do get some that you won't find in the Tampa area. For example, we've had Atala Hairstreaks, Mourning Cloaks, and we currently have Julia Longwings and Malachites. I have never seen any of these in this area and probably won't unless climate change really accelerates. Our mission statement is "Making science real." We do that by showing people that they can build a butterfly garden and attract nearly everything they see flying in the exhibit. Okay, so the point is that the butterflies lay eggs in the flight cage and one of my jobs is to gather them up and bring them into the lab. Here's some Great Southern White eggs I found on Cleome, and a Monarch who was molting on a milkweed leaf.
My absolute favorite thing to do is collect caterpillars. I think I like the challenge. And I've gotten pretty good at it, if I do say so myself. First, I have to make sure I have a pop-up with me to place my victims in.
Now, between the exhibit and the parking lot is one side of the garden. The other side next to the main building is technically the Historic Tree Grove. Each tree has a connection to a historically significant person. And each tree is descended from a tree related to that person. Like, our tree is a seedling or cutting from the original tree that grew on the property of the famous person. Also, the boss redid it a few years ago and each tree has a theme, artwork, and signage. For example, we have a magnolia for Juliette Gordon Low, who founded the Girl Scouts. For the Ray Charles tree, we planted a sensory garden (plants that have unique textures or scents) underneath because he was blind. For the Henry Ford tree, we have plants like milkweed and goldenrod because they were once studied to see if they could make tires from the latex in them. And we have old Ford Motors signs and we planted some of the plants inside tires. In the John Gorrie (inventor of air conditioning) garden we grow Frostweed and Ice Plant. Get it?
Here's a picture of the Lowe magnolia. The Wright Brothers Sweet Gum tree is to the right and just starting to leaf out. Oh hey, you can see the IMAX dome theater in the background. I can only watch certain films in there or I get sick.
Okay, let me back up and start on the other side. I like it because it's quieter and there are less guests watching me. Still, you can see how close the parking lot is. The exhibit is just to the right.
Those are the entry gates. And if you look close, you can see a sign back in the trees. That's where the Backwoods trail starts.
I didn't have the best luck, but I did find four Sulphur caterpillars. The one is clearly an Orange-Barred, but the others are still too small to tell. If you're having trouble finding them, look right in the middle of the leaf. They like to lay right in the center when they're small.
I saw some Spotted Oleander Moth caterpillars but left them on the Oleander. We only raise species like that when we don't have much going on. Like in the winter months.
So this is the sidewalk along the garden which is why I'm usually the first person the guests see. Looking across the parking lot, that's the Historic Tree Grove.
The literal crossroads of the Tree Grove. The places on the sign are places related to the historic people. We also have a gazebo with rocking chairs.
I took a picture of the Dune Sunflowers to show Dad what they would eventually look like when we plant them out front.
You can see all the signs we have. Some of them have those weird square codes you can scan with your phone and it takes you to the blog page that corresponds to the tree and the historic person. Also, guests are supposed to stay on the path, but I'm allowed to stumble around trying to find caterpillars. I also come over here to net butterflies, but again, everyone coming in from the parking lot has to make a comment when you're carrying a butterfly net. I hate when people start pointing at butterflies going by at 50 mph like I'm going to take off after them. Also, I don't catch butterflies we already have plenty of. My favorite comeback when people start pointing out all the butterflies - "I've already reached my quota on that one." Sometimes I say "bag limit" if they're really annoying me and don't look smart enough to know the word "quota".
Here's a closer look at Lowe's magnolia. You can see her picture on the sign. We have roses planted there, jasmine, and lots of pentas. In fact, this is where I saw those pentas with the dark centers that I later found (and bought) at USF.
Here's the Wright Brothers Sweet Gum tree garden. We have lots of Tillandsias, commonly known as "Air Plants". Yup, we like puns at MOSI. You can also see we have some vintage plane signs.
Okay, that completes the tour - for now! Hope you enjoyed seeing where I go every week!
