Museum’s Tropical Forest looks to Africa

African butterflies and moths could eventually be added to the array of tropical butterflies at the Otago Museum’s Tropical Forest, after a museum visit to Kenya.

"We’re actually quite excited by it," museum director  Ian Griffin said.

The museum would "start the paper work to add several African butterfly and moth species to our import permit", he said —  subject to approval by both the Ministry for Primary Industries and the Environmental Protection Agency.

"These new species will have the potential to add new life to the Tropical Forest, and provide an additional drawcard for visitors."

The museum at present buys tropical butterflies from the Philippines and Costa Rica, but was "trying to do some new things".

After attending a recent international butterfly-related conference in Kenya,  museum butterfly team members gained contacts which could diversify the butterfly supply.

The museum may seek to import a species  from the Argema genus, or something similar.

john.gibb@odt.co.nz