We have been working with BYU's Bean Museum to help beef up their butterfly and insect displays! When renovations are over, we will have helped them build: 1. A six foot by four foot by nine inches 3D flight of swallowtail butterflies along with an educational component explaining how their long tails protect them from predators. This will be especially fun because it is not just a simple wall mount - we will be mounting dozens of butterflies on stems to place them in a flight that extends from the bottom of the display, around a corner, and up onto the wall. We will be trying to use especially strong colored specimens to spice up their display. (This will be right next to the huge butterfly made out of butterfly display). 2. A six foot by two foot display of morpho butterflies along with an educational component explaining how their metallic wing color protects them from predators. This one will be strategically placed to catch attention from across the museum - the bright metallic colors of several species of morphos will undoubtedly increase the traffic into that already popular area of the museum. 3. A HUGE metallic purple haired bird-eating tarantula posed in a 3D mount so that it is about to spring on an unsuspecting bird (the museum is choosing the bird). This will be on of their "on the floor" display boxes where small children can climb around to see the taratula. 4. A small scientific display (about 2 feet squared) showing leaf mimicry in butterflies and phyllium species - also one of their rotating "on the floor" display boxes. 5. A small scientific display (about 2 feet squared) showing biodiversity but probably focusing on various metallic beetles - also one of their rotating "on the floor" display boxes. 6. We will also be replacing several of their damaged specimens and adding a few new ones to make their existing displays nicer. All of our families go to the Bean Museum a couple or few times a year to enjoy their fun and beautiful exhibits so we are especially excited about being involved with these displays!
