What's on in Edinburgh

Edinburgh Butterfly & Insect World

Daily

Cost: £4.70; 3-15 yrs & concessions £3.60; Family, group and season tickets available

Hours: Summer: late Mar (when clocks go forward) - late Oct (when clocks go back): 9.30am-5.30am;
Winter (late Oct to late Mar) 10am-5pm
Closed 25-26 Dec & 1 Jan

At Edinburgh's Butterfly & Insect World visitors can wander through a tropical rainforest (regardless of the weather) and see a wide variety of exotic and beautiful butterflies as well as other more creepy creatures!

Located within the grounds of Dobbies Garden World (the largest garden centre in Scotland) and only ten minutes away from the centre of Edinburgh, Butterfly and Insect World is a window into a whole other world - a world where hundreds of the planet's most spectacular butterflies circle around you. Butterflies that can be seen range from the bright blue Morpho from South America to the tiny, transparent Glasswing.

At any one time, 30 to 40 species of butterflies and moths can be seen, with over 300 species appearing over the course of a year (more than 80% of which are home-bred, with the rest imported from tropical regions). The centre raises around £1000 a year towards Rainforest Conservation, collected by the unusual method of a wishing well in the main pond fed by a large waterfall.

There's also a wide variety of creepy crawlies, or "minibeasts," on display. These include crabs, spiders, snakes, lizards and a leaf-cutting ant colony. There are handling sessions at 12pm and 3pm every day, starring such regulars as Milly the millipede, Monty the royal python, Jemima the jungle nymph (a stick insect) and (if you're brave enough) Abby-Sue the tarantula. Of course, the creatures which can be handled do not include the collection of deadly scorpions... but these can be viewed from behind the safety of glass.

Other exhibitions include the honey-bee display, following the life of one of the most important insects to man, and the caterpillar area, where the butterfly's life cycle can be seen close-up.

Edinburgh Butterfly & Insect World