The Sertoma Butterfly and Marine House -- Butterfly Division

 We had a great chance to see the wonderful aquariums in the Sertoma Butterfly and Marine Cove house in Sioux Falls last time. However, now it is time to take a look at the star attractions -- the butterfly house.

 The Flight Room is about 3,600 square feet of tropical paradise and contains many, many tropical plants, flowers and of course, butterflies. Held at a constant 80 degrees, this is a perfect environment for the butterflies.

 There are thousands of butterflies tooling around as you stroll through the flight room on paved paths. They are literally everywhere and beautiful to see.

 Rick was not sure where to take pictures first, as there were many, many butterflies all vying for his attention. He did not know the names of these, but had a great time watching them.

 The butterflies arrive at the Sioux Falls location as chrysalises which were raised at butterfly hatcheries. These are grown and hatched in a special room (which we could view) and when they emerge, enter the flight room. 

 Butterflies from around the world are represented here and include locations such as Central and South America, Africa, Asia and Australia.

 It was amazing to sit on one of the benches, next to a small waterfall, and watch these beautiful creatures fly among the tropical foliage.

 Rick was surprised at the wide variety of color, shapes and sizes of the different butterflies as these two indicate.

 There were small and large butterflies and literally all colors of the rainbow.

 This fellow was hard to pin down for a picture, but eventually Rick was able to wait for him to light long enough to take this shot.

 Rick really liked this one. Not sure where it is from, but the colors were amazing.

 Finally, this one was one of the largest in the flight room and flew very rapidly and well.

The Butterfly House is a great place to visit to see both butterflies and aquarium dwellers. This is well worth a visit of a few hours when you are in the Sioux Falls area.