Pearlridge, Kapolei Host Flurries Of Butterflies This Spring

Butterflies flock to West Oahu this month. Photo from Mele Pochereva.

Butterflies are flocking to two West Oahu locations this spring.

Community members can engage in butterfly-related workshops at Pearlridge Center through April 4. Local experts, including Darlene Loo-McDowell, William Haines and Dancetta Feary, will lead workshops to educate shoppers on how to propagate butterfly gardens and what types of plants to include.

Workshops include butterfly field trips and a butterfly conservatory, which houses hundreds of Oahuand Maui-raised butterflies in all stages of life. The field trips run Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and cost is $4 per student. Visit adopt-abutterfly.com for more information.

The exhibit is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is $3 per person, and free for keiki under age 8 accompanied by a paying adult.

Gardening for Butterflies, a special Sunday (March 22) workshop, focuses on how to keep your garden healthy and stocked with plants butterflies will love.

Feary hosts a special Butterfly Observatory Tour March 28 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. to discuss monarch butterflies, their potential predators and what can be done to save the population.

See our state butterfly (Kamehameha butterfly) up close Saturday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., thanks to University of Hawaii’s William Haines. Call 554-3307 to register for any of the special workshops.

Then, Kapolei Shopping Center hosts its Spring is in the Air event April 4 from noon to 2 p.m. The Butterfly Lady (Feary) brings her butterfly house to the center for an up-close and personal experience with the beautiful monarch butterfly.

In addition to the butterfly house, the event will feature activities, arts and crafts and photo opportunities with Keoki Cottontail.

Visit inKapolei.com for more information.