Missoula Butterfly House and Insectarium

09/06/2026

🕷️ Meet Bethany, our curly-haired tarantula, enjoying a crunchy cricket snack! 🍽️
Tarantulas are ambush predators, they wait patiently, then strike with lightning speed! Their venom liquefies the insides of their prey so they can slurp it up like a smoothie. 😳

09/06/2026

Don't miss out on our Butterfly House Yoga, Meditation, Happy Hours, and much much more!
Keep an eye on our weekly newsletters for new and returning unique events at the Missoula Butterfly House.
https://gqr.sh/4Srp

09/05/2026

Ever wonder what the inside of a termite colony looks like? 👀

Termites are eusocial insects, meaning they live in highly organized colonies where different members have different jobs. A colony can include a king and queen, workers that gather and process food and care for the colony, and soldiers that help defend it.

And that shaking you see? Termites can use vibrations as a form of communication, including alarm signals that warn other colony members about potential danger (which in this case was probably the camera, sorry friends).

They may have a reputation for eating houses, but termites are also important decomposers. Many species help break down dead plant material and return nutrients to the soil.

Come check out our new Pacific Dampwood Termite colony up close! (Zootermopsis angusticollis)

09/05/2026

Help Celebrate Butterfly Big Day 2026!

Join us in celebrating the inaugural annual Butterfly Big Day with the by helping document butterflies around the world on 12 September 2026.

Butterfly Big Day is an international event designed for people of all ages to find as many wild butterflies as they can, spread awareness of the importance of butterflies & other pollinators, and learn how we can help their populations.

Participating is easy!
- Just download the free iNaturalist app and sign up for a free account. You can also use a web browser and access the iNaturalist web site (inaturalist.org).
- Take photos of free-living butterflies (not captive or from butterfly houses).
- Submit your photos to iNaturalist. Photos of butterflies submitted anywhere in the world on 12th September will count for Butterfly Big Day! You do not have to be able to identify the butterfly in order for your observations to be useful.

For more information, links to quick iNaturalist tutorial videos, and to find the Butterfly Big Day regional partner in your part of the world, visit www.urbanbutterflies.org/big-day

To see all the Butterfly Big Day submissions, visit the iNaturalist project page during or after the event: www.inaturalist.org/projects/butterfly-big-day-2026

09/05/2026

Happy September!

There are reminders all around us that the seasons are beginning to change. Even with cooler days ahead, Montana’s insect world is still active, with butterflies, beetles, moths, and dragonflies making the most of the remaining warmth. 🌤

For this week’s What’s Buzzin’, we’re taking a closer look at one particularly eye-catching dragonfly. Its bright red color makes it easy to spot, but there’s more to this little flyer than meets the eye. From its incredible flight abilities to its fascinating life history, the Band-winged Meadowhawk gives us plenty of reasons to slow down, look a little closer, and appreciate the insects that are around us.

Thank you, as always, for sharing your observations with us! If you find something interesting and would like help identifying, we’d love to see it. Add your observation to our iNaturalist project or send your photos to [email protected].

We hope everyone enjoys this week’s fascinating discoveries, gets outside, and squeezes out a little more of that summer feeling before the seasons officially turn 🍂🌨

09/04/2026

Thank you for joining us for our first Happy Hour of the season! 💛

Happy Hour at the Butterfly House looked a lot like what we hoped these evenings could be: friends catching up over a drink, people getting surprisingly competitive over Bingo, wandering through the Butterfly House, taking silly photos, and spending a Thursday night somewhere a little different.

Whether you came with a group, brought a date, or just wanted an excuse to get out of the house, we loved getting to spend the evening with you.

We’ll do it all again on October 1st. See you then! 🦋🍻

09/04/2026

We're excited to start Bugs and Brews back up with Marirose Kuhlman on September 4th. Tickets are still available!

The Missoula Butterfly House is hosting Bugs and Brews. Your chance to learn about bugs while enjoying a beverage.

09/03/2026

Think you know your arthropods? 🕷️🐞

We're giving you just 5 hints to identify today's mystery arthropod. Drop your guess in the comments and see if you can beat everyone else to the correct answer. Bonus bragging rights if you get it in 3 hints or less.

Ready? Let's see who our arthropod experts are. 👀

09/02/2026

A little something** to take the edge off

**80% humidity and 85 degrees with free-flying butterflies

09/02/2026

Butterfly House Meditation is becoming a WEEKLY Sunday tradition! 🦋

Join us every Sunday morning from 9:00–10:00 AM for a quiet, guided meditation surrounded by butterflies.

And while the program has been on a short break, our Visitor Relations Coordinator, Ashley Sinclair, has been busy! Ashley earned her Mindfulness Certificate to deepen her practice and bring even more intention to the experience she creates for our community. We’re pretty lucky to have people like Ashley who keep learning, growing, and finding new ways to make the Butterfly House a welcoming space. 💛 Way to go, Ashley!

We can’t wait to see you all back on Sunday mornings.