Secret World of Butterflies

Overview

Auckland War Memorial Museum is promising to bring a 'kaleidoscope of colour and patterns' to the city this June with the unveiling of the Secret World of Butterflies exhibition.

The Museum is set to play host to around 13,000 exotic butterfly specimens, all donated by war veteran and butterfly enthusiast, Ray Shannon.

The exhibition looks like it will go above the purely aesthetically interesting though. The curators claim they've set out to explore the complicated and fascinating science of the butterfly. This means delving in to things such as the butterfly's intricate anatomy, the biology of the journey from caterpillar to butterfly and their habitat and life cycle.

Excitingly, it also sounds as if interaction will play a large role. On offer will be the opportunity to crawl through an enlarged caterpillar, take a butterfly selfie (#butterflyqueen) and even create your own butterfly to release in to a digital garden.

These beautiful insects are both visually and anatomically extremely interesting and this show sounds set to give some insight into both these aspects. On top of that, any chance to get a glimpse in to the ways in which other species work is always well worth the efforts.

The Secret World of Butterflies is set to open at the Auckland War Memorial Museum on Saturday, June 9 and will be free of charge.