Urban Planning, Ecological Transition, Urban Services and Housing

Last May, the Botanical Institute of Barcelona (IBB), a joint centre of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Barcelona City Council, inaugurated a new space in its facilities that aims to meet the needs of both research and scientific dissemination. It is a butterfly conservatory, an environment of controlled conditions that will allow the breeding and maintenance of colonies of butterflies together with the plants that host them, in order to advance in the study of the behaviour, ecology and evolution of these insects.

The butterfly conservatory is a project promoted by the Phylomigration Lab led by IBB researcher Gerard Talavera, within the Entomology and Insect-Plant Interactions research group. The butterfly conservatory’s functions are also part of the Butterfly Migration citizen science programme, which aims to raise awareness of the migratory phenomenon of butterflies and promote citizen participation in monitoring their movements and breeding sites around the world.

In addition to its research objectives, the butterfly conservatory has become a new tool for the educational and dissemination activities of the research centre, through visits where you can observe the butterflies in the different stages of their development and talk to the research community about the citizen science that is closely linked to their studies.

Location within the Botanical Garden

The new butterfly conservatory is a new attraction at the Botanical Garden of Barcelona, as the installation is located within its open space, right on the esplanade in front of the IBB and the Garden’s exhibition area. Now, thanks to the collaboration of the guides of the Association of Friends of the Botanical Garden, the butterfly conservatory will be added to the weekend visits to the Botanical Garden.

The butterfly conservatory can also complement the free visits to the Gabinete Salvador and the temporary exhibition More than bees. Pollinators and flowers: life at stake, since from the outside, informative signs will allow visitors to approach the world of butterflies. Moreover, without having to go inside the installation, its glass walls allow visitors to observe the butterflies on the flowers and in flight, as well as some caterpillars feeding on the plants in the space.

Species in the butterfly conservatory

Three native species of butterfly live inside the installation. Two of them are the most common species of migratory butterfly in our geography: the painted lady (Vanessa cardui) and the red admiral (Vanessa atalanta). The third species can cause damage to cabbage crops (Pieris rapae), a butterfly that can cause damage to cabbage crops.

As far as plants are concerned, these are represented by the host species necessary for the larval stages (caterpillars) of butterflies, which feed on these plants. These include mallows and thistles for Vanessa cardui, Parietaria judaica and nettle for Vanessa atalanta and cabbage for Pieris rapae. To ensure the feeding of the adult butterflies, several flowering plants live in the facility. And to provide shade, shelter and contribute to a heterogeneous habitat, the butterfly conservatory also includes some species of trees and shrubs.

For all these reasons, the new butterfly conservatory will allow the IBB’s scientific team to broaden its knowledge of the physiology and behaviour of butterflies, while the facility will serve as a bridge to bring science closer to the public.