Field Trips & Tours
Choose from an off-site, expert-led half-day field trip on Friday, October 17, to experience an array of fall wildflower colors and butterflies. Or, be among the few to see places that are normally off limits to the public via a special V.I.P. tour of the Florida Museum of Natural History and the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity.
PLEASE NOTE: Pre-registration is required for field trips and tours.
Registration information will be posted soon.
Off-site Field Trip
McGuire Center butterfly scientist and butterfly field guide author Jaret Daniels will lead a half-day field trip to Morningside Nature Center. Limit 20 per field trip. Lunch and transportation are not included.
Morningside Nature Center
Friday, October 17 | 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Cost: $25 per person
Fall wildflowers at Morningside Nature Center sandhill habitat burst with color at this 278-acre sandhill long-leaf pine preserve. Swallowtails, skippers, and sulphur butterflies are abundant this time of year. Deer-tongue, Liatris and summer farewell are clothed in lavenders, pinks and whites and contrast against a green palette of pines.
Hiking level: Beginning, easy 1-mile walk on flat terrain.
Meet at Morningside Nature Center at 10 a.m. in the main asphalt parking lot. Click here for directions.
Behind-the-Scenes Tours of the Butterfly Rainforest and McGuire Center
Take a V.I.P., expert-led tour through places in the Florida Museum and McGuire Center that are normally off-limits to the public. Limit 12 per tour. Price includes admission into the Butterfly Rainforest.
Behind-the-Scenes Tours
Saturday, October 18 | 8:45 a.m., 9 a.m. or 4 p.m.
Sunday, October 19 | 8:45 a.m., 9 a.m. or 4 p.m.
Duration: Approx. 1.5 hours
Cost: $45 per person (ages 8 & up)
Learn the secrets of how Butterfly Rainforest staff keep it brimming with stunning, exotic butterflies year-round. Be among the few to see portions of the vast collection of rare butterflies and moths, some that have yet to be studied and named, from remote places around the globe. End your adventure in the renowned Butterfly Rainforest with Dr. Thomas C. Emmel, director, McGuire Center. He will be available to answer your questions one-on-one.
Meet 5-10 minutes before your scheduled tour time in the museum lobby by the information desk.
Photo by Marilyn Martin