The Butterfly Atrium at Hershey Gardens

The Butterfly Atrium is an indoor, glass-enclosed atrium full of tropical plants and butterflies. With feeding stations full of tropical fruit for the butterflies to feed from. It’s a great opportunity to view them up close.

The butterflies in the Atrium hail from North America, South and Central America, Africa, and Asia and represent many different species. There are nearly 400 butterflies at a time, but the species composition changes over the months. Species include common morpho, pear charaxes, great mormon, leopard lacewing, paper kite, great orange tip, postman, and common birdwing, among others.

Inside of the Atrium is a live wall of vining plants. The wall is constructed of small hanging planters that attach to the wall, making a solid wall of beautiful plants.

There are many tropical plants inside the 80 degree atrium including Crossandra, Calliandra, bat flower (Tacca chantrieri), Golden Shrimp Plant, Jatropha, Plumeria, Frangipani, and Pentas. These plants provide food and shelter for the butterflies.

The Chrysalis Cabinet showcases the life cycle of the butterfly as visitors can view hundreds of chrysalids.

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