INSIDE ACCESS: Cockrell Butterfly Center

You might think the Houston Museum of Natural Science is just a place full of fossils, but it’s full of life too. A walk through the Cockrell Butterfly Center puts that on display.

“There are many butterflies. We estimate about 2,000 flying in this conservatory at any given time,” says Kathryn Hokamp, an HMNS entomologist.

The center imports an average of 800 butterfly chrysalids and moth cocoons from eight different countries, as well as raising some of their own. They’re on display, allowing you to watch them emerge live.

“It gets me every time and I’ve seen it hundreds of times,” laughs Hokamp. “The emergence process is really one of the most imperative parts of their entire life.”

About 85 percent of the butterflies here survive that process, which involves the butterfly hanging for up to several hours while its wings straighten out and dry.

“Then they will stay in that position for the rest of its life,” Hokamp explains.

Twice a day, she gathers the ones that are ready in a basket, releasing them into the conservatory, where they can flit around visitors.

“If they’re dressed in bright colors, reds and oranges, they have a much higher rate of butterflies landing on them,” she says. “They also really like people who are sweaty. They get their salt from mammals.”

So if you’re hoping to have a butterfly pay you a visit, maybe deck yourself out in brightly colored workout gear and go on a sprint through Hermann Park before you stop in.

You can buy tickets to the Cockrell Butterfly Center here.