Blue Morpho Butterfly Festival

About the Event

Enjoy our month-long display of nature at its finest! Each September & October, marvel at the Blue Morpho as hundreds of these tropical butterflies fill the Day Butterfly Center with their iridescent-blue splendor. Visitors to the Day Butterfly Center will witness the largest display of Blue Morpho Butterflies on the planet during September and October!

Celebrate butterflies, caterpillars and all things crawly at our The Annual Butterfly Festival at Callaway Resort & Gardens!  With crafts, games and activities for children of all ages (and kids at heart), the Cecil B. Day Tropical Butterfly Conservatory will be the hub of happenings all weekend long.  Adventure out on an scavenger hunt, but above all slow down to take in the magic of the conservatory and Callaway Gardens’ "flying flowers".

The Blue Morpho (Morpho peleides) is a spectacular butterfly native to the rainforests of South and Central America. The undersides of the wings are brown with eyespots, but the contrasting upper sides could be considered the most brilliant, vivid blue that nature has to offer. This iridescent color actually results from microscopic scales on the backs of their wings reflecting light, giving the brilliant shimmering blue appearance. As a Blue Morpho flies, its contrasting wing colors of brilliant blue and dull brown fool the eye and make the Morpho look as if it is appearing and disappearing, paying tribute to its name ‘morpho’ – which actually means "to change or modify."

Blue Morphos have long courtship rituals and are fiercely territorial – both behaviors that keep the beautiful butterflies constantly swooshing and swirling through the air. And when they do rest, unlike most butterflies that hide in the trees, Morphos usually congregate in large groups around the fruit baskets in the Conservatory, making them very easy to spot and a lot of fun to watch.

We open at 10am so you may have the opportunity to watch the last miraculous phase of metamorphosis as new adult butterflies climb from their chrysalids and prepare for their first flight.

Blue Morpho Month gives you the best opportunity to photograph these butterflies, which are normally difficult to capture on photo or video. Optimal time for photos is in the morning around 10am and in the afternoon past 3pm, when Morphos are usually resting.

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