Over 3,000 butterflies fly freely at the largest conservatory for the insects in the United States, Butterfly Wonderland. The conservatory is located in Scottsdale, Arizona. More than 70 species of butterfly can be found there in 3,000 square meters of tropical paradise in the middle of the Sonoran Desert. Dayna Cooper is curatorial director. “The landscape design here is highly specialized. It has to incorporate roosting areas for the butterflies. A lot of nectar for them to feed on, with absolutely no host plant material, and host plants are of course the plants that butterflies reproduce on. So, all the female butterflies out here do not have a host plant to lay eggs on, which is why we don't have caterpillars out in the Conservatory.”  Great Eggflies video player. Embed" />A pair of Great Eggflies on a date. A Postman sipping from a favorite nectar source, Psiguria vine.Cooper says the butterflies are diverse in shape, size, and color and their life cycle is divided into four parts: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and finally, adult butterfly.  “Each week, butterfly farmers send us a shipment of pupae (also called chrysalides (butterflies) or cocoons (moths).   Once we get them, we secure them to glass boards,” Cooper says.  “Our Emergence area is where people can see and watch as butterflies emerge from their chrysalides, or moths emerge from their cocoons, dry their wings and then be released into the conservatory. Most people have never seen that happen. So it's very, very special.”   Cooper says the Blue Morpho is a popular butterfly at the conservatory, along with many others. The butterflies come from tropical Africa, Southeast Asia, Central and South America, as well as Florida.  Dayna Cooper, Curatorial Director Cooper has spent 20 years in the green industry, working in horticulture and natural resources management. Cooper has been a part of the conservatory since its beginning and has learned a lot of fun facts about butterflies that she shares with visitors. “Butterflies have taste receptors on their feet. They don't have ears. They feed on nectar from flowers and fruit.  Butterflies feeding on nectar from mix fruit A butterfly finds food by using its large compound eyes—which are sensitive to light, movement, color, and patterns—as well as its antennae. The antennae may look like ‘feelers,’ but they have chemical receptors and are used primarily for smelling,” Cooper says. Butterflies feeding on Banana Brew video player. Embed" />The brown and grey butterflies ...