"The Magic Of Butterfly Reinvention at MGM Butterfly Pavilion"

Butterfly Pavilion

Measuring at 26ft in diameter and 21ft in height, the Butterfly Pavilion stands tall in the heart of Grande Praça, and is carpeted with emerald green organic wheatgrasses. It houses close to 1,000 butterflies from different parts of the world including China, Malaysia, Africa, South America and many more.

The dome-shaped, eco-friendly, efficient and durable Butterfly Pavilion is a creation inspired by Buckminster Fuller (1859-1983), an American architect who was famous for his geodesic dome designs. The geodesic dome is a sphere-like structure composed of a complex network of triangles, which creates a self-bracing framework that gives structural strength with minimal material use. They are environmental friendly, efficient and durable.

Large-scale synthetic glass butterflies

Shining upon the alluring Butterfly Pavilion and adorned inside the Grande Praça are seven large-scale synthetic glass butterflies and moth elevated in the ceiling, which are imitations of different types of lepidopteran species: Monarch, Ulysses, Ornithoptera, Siproeta Stelenes and Chrysiridia Rhipheus. They are handcrafted onto metal armature and their sizes range from 9ft to 23ft in width and 8ft to 15ft in length.

Incubation Room

Pupae of different breeds of butterflies are imported for incubation in the emergence case located at Grande Praça. Butterfly expert, Dr. Wu practices oviparity of over 130 lepidopteran species in the incubation room. He also provides insights on the species to guests.

Basic environmental requirements of creating a butterfly incubation room include:

• Ideal temperature of the hatchery is around 26 °C with humidity at 70% to 80%. Humidity control can be regulated by use of humidifier and heater inside the hatchery.
• Species that require higher humidity will receive spraying or misting on the pupae.
• The room needs to be sealed up in white with no gaps and maintains a highly hygienic condition to prevent any type of parasites that may emerge out of the pupae.
• A second dark case is constructed with a temperature of 18°C as a substitution for newly emerged butterflies.

Dr. Wu

Dr. Victor Yun Wu, is a renowned lepidopterist and delegate of China in Butterfly Conferences all over the globe. He has successfully developed exclusive techniques in artificial oviparity of butterflies.

He found the first Butterfly Museum in China - Sammy’s Butterfly Museum located in Kunming province in 1992. From 1999 to 2011, he found and ran the first Butterfly Garden in China: Expo Kunming Butterfly Garden. Well-known publications of Dr. Wu include “Butterfly Farming”, “The Appreciation of World Famous Butterflies”, “Culture and Appreciation of Butterflies”, “Culture and Appreciation of Insects”, etc.