A Start of a Bigger and Better Experience

, October 18, 2014

An egg was laid in the metamorphosis of Penang Butterfly Farm.

On 18 October 2014, the ground was ceremoniously broken to make way for the construction for its major redevelopment in Teluk Bahang which is set to start in November 2014.

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Penang Butterfly Farm currently stands at 29,000 sq ft and will expand its wings to 91,000 sq ft for the first phase of construction and eventually spread even further to 130,000 sq ft during the second phase of construction. The total investment budget for the first phase of construction is a whooping RM 38 million.

Model

While construction is underway, the farm is still open for public until 7th of March 2014. After which, it will undergo its pupation stage where it will be closed for public in order to make way for further construction.

This redevelopment will be uniquely themed for the purpose of Education and Tourism while sharing the profound wisdom of Mother Nature.

Here’s a sneak peek of what’s to come..

Watch out for the emergence of this new facility in early 2016. blog-2

During the said ceremony, Penang Butterfly Farm also launched 2 Children’s Insect Book authored by Mr. Kazuo Unno, a renowned insect photographer from Japan.

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Another noteworthy event that happened that day was the launch of the #GrowMeToKnowMe contest to celebrate the wonderful things to come. 1000 pieces of nectar plant and food plant seedlings will be given out for a month.


Posted in Events & Workshops, Latest News |

3 Exciting Activities For You

, October 14, 2014

Are you planning a trip to Penang Butterfly Farm?

Here are the activities that you have to watch out for.

For an updated time schedule, don’t forget to check the schedule board at the Entrance Foyer.

BUGEXSept copyNatureTalkSept copyVitaNovaSept copy


Posted in Butterflies, Events & Workshops, Insects |

#GrowMeToKnowMe

, October 14, 2014

 

GM2KMLOVE

 

We have planted the seeds.

4 more days until the reveal. Follow us on Instagram – penangbutterflyfarm


Posted in Events & Workshops, Latest News |

Fun learning experience at “Karnival Pendidikan Sains dan Teknologi”!

, June 5, 2014

We headed to Seberang Perai Politeknik with some creepy crawlies for the “Karnival Pendidikan Sains dan Teknologi Peringkat Negeri Pulau Pinang” last 29th, 30th and 31st of May 2014.

If you weren’t there, let us tell you what are the awesome things that you have missed. Oh, don’t worry you’ll catch us again in other Carnivals soon!

Surely, our booth was full of critters that gave a lot of people the heebie-jeebies.

There was the Bugs Anatomy, where kids were able to magnify up to the teeny-tiny body parts of a scorpion, grasshopper, stick insect, water scorpion and a butterfly.

We didn’t forget to bring our leggy Millipedes for the Millipede Massage. For those who fancied a massage, they weren’t disappointed. But we have to admit, there were a few screams and loud cries but nothing serious that a few friendly encouragement couldn’t solve.

For those who weren’t fond of the creepy kind, we had the Pupa Math for some nerdy fun!
Test your visual and counting skills by looking for the correct numbers of well-hidden pupae on a Bonsai plant.

A few lucky ones also had the chance to bring home a Vita Nova (New Life) pupa where they will be able to observe the emergence of a butterfly.

There were a handful of fearless individuals too that tried out or Bowl-O-Worm daring game. The challenge was to grab 3 pieces of shillings from inside the bowl of Mealworms. How easy was that?! Some might disagree. Here’s a secret, think of the Mealworms as Mee Goreng (Fried Noodles) because they definitely look like it especially when they were in a bowl, ready to be served, you would easily forget about your fear and would certainly dig right in for those shillings.

We had our hands dirty with our Hunt-a-Grub activity. Grubs are the larvae stage of beetles. Some species are usually found underground, feed below the ground and guess what?, they also poop on the same ground. How convenient that is for them!?

 

 

If you are wondering if the grubs are edible…please refer to the previous paragraph.

 

So,would you eat them?

 

 


Posted in Events & Workshops, Latest News |

5 Ways to Celebrate Mother’s Day at Penang Butterfly Farm

, May 9, 2014

Create precious memory with your mom, here are 5 great ways to celebrate Mother’s Day…

And here is a little something more…

Happy Mother’s Day!


Posted in Events & Workshops, Latest News |

Trivia Answers on our Earth Day Campaign: Build You Own Butterfly Garden

, April 25, 2014

We are celebrating Earth Day for 10 days with our 10 Acts of Green. As our Act of Green #8, we shared some tips on how to create your own butterfly garden on our Facebook and Twitter page and a few trivia questions as well.

Time to find out the answers to our trivia questions and see if you won a D.I.Y Your Own Butterfly Garden Booklet!

1. What kind of plants provide butterflies with sweet nutritious fluid for drinking?

Answer: Nectar Plants

2. Does using pesticide good for your butterfly garden?

Answer: No. 

3. Where is Penang Butterfly Farm located?

Answer:  Teluk Bahang, Penang

4. Aside from Nectar, what do male butterflies of some species need for nutrients?

Answer: Minerals

5. Name one weekday activity with the Nature Specialists at Penang Butterfly Farm.

Answer: Nature Talk or Vita Nova

6. Are butterflies good indicator of a healthy environment? Why?

Answer: Yes, a high number of butterflies mean that there are a high number of food plants and nectar plants in the ecosystem that benefits not only the butterflies but other animals as well.

7. As part of a global movement, what is Penang Butterfly Farm celebrating on 22 April 2014?

Answer: Earth Day

8. Why are butterflies and bees important to us?

Answer: Butterflies and bees help in pollination.

Without them plants won’t be pollinated and we won’t have fruits and vegetables.

9. Give one example of a butterfly host plant from our tip posted in our Facebook page.

Answer: (either of the following)

Aristolochia tagala Plant or Lime Plant

10. What is the name of the national butterfly of Malaysia?

Answer: Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing or Trogonoptera brookiana

Did you manage to answer all 10 questions correctly? Head on to Penang Butterfly Farm to claim your prize!

 


Posted in Butterflies, Events & Workshops, Nature's Motivation |

10 Acts of Green Towards Earth Day

, April 23, 2014

The 10 Acts of Green by Penang Butterfly Farm is our contribution to a bigger environmental cause by the Earth Day Network, “A Billion Acts of Green ®”. It is also a leap forward to the realization of our vision, “Seeing harmony between human and the environment…”

One act of kindness each day up until Earth Day 2014 which falls on the 22nd of April. Some acts were adopted for long term, just because we truly care…

This Earth-friendly poster was made with recycled plastic bag, old newspaper, yarn and dry leaves.

Employees spent  a few minutes to sign-up as Penang Green Citizens. As a Green Citizen, they pledge to, save water, conserve energy, support the No-Smoking initiative, reduce plastic bag usage, stop open burning, stop littering, reduce carbon footprint, cut down the use of polystyrene food containers, help to create a caring society and orbserve the 3Rs- reduce, reuse and recycle.

Everyone were encourage to bring their own food containers when “taking-away” food and reduce the use of plastic bottles by bringing their own water tumblers.Inside our offices, we observe at least 1 hour a day to turn-off all air-conditioning units and turn-off lights when not in use. Save the planet and save electricity at the same time!

We went out with our brooms and dustpans to clean-up the surrounding.

Lessen the traffic jam and at the same time, save fuel. Carpool is definitely cool.

We are going organic. By doing so, it enhances the “ecosystem” by providing habitat to more variety of natural creatures and soil-dwelling organisms.
With the help of the tropical sunshine and some generously scattered rain throughout the following months, we hope to reap a good harvest soon.We conducted an online campaign to encourage the public to create a little patch of greenery in their backyard to attract “green heroes” like butterflies, bees and birds. Let’s reduce our waste and recycle.
Everyday, our recycle bins and shack are open for our employees to bring in their recycled materials.
All the recycled items are then donated to SIMA Handicapped Centre.

And finally, in celebration of Earth Day, our visitors were given the chance to create art from trash!

So, what are your acts of green?

 


Posted in Climate Change, Events & Workshops, Mother Nature |

Earth Day Special DIY Your Own Butterfly Garden Booklet Give-away!

, April 20, 2014


Posted in Events & Workshops, Promotions |

Fun with Bugs at the Penang Yosakoi Parade 2014

, March 25, 2014

It is the second year of Penang Yosakoi Parade and we were in it again!

The Esplanade grounds were turned into a giant dance floor last 1st of March 2014. There were some street dancing too, of course.

You are probably thinking by now what kind of bugs were there at our tent to fascinate people…some actually did more than just fascinate, they played hide-and-seek to show off their amazing camouflage abilities. Exactly what kind of insect am I talking about? The Phasmids!

Check out the Bug-A-Boo corner…

If you think those Phasmids are hard to find, wait ’til you see their eggs!

So, what actually happened here?

We invited some not-so-squeamish individuals to dig in a pile of Phasmid poop and eggs, separate one kind of egg into a container in a limited time.

You might think that’s easy eh, try doing it using chopsticks!

 

Our Bugz Hobby corner was also a hit for insect lovers. A lucky few had a chance to bring home and look after insect pets such as the Stag Beetle, Katydid and Stick Insect.

Aside from those six-legged critters, we also prepared Vita Nova. It was a rare chance for those who grabbed one, to observe one of the miracles of Nature which is the emergence of a colourful butterfly from the pupa. Vita Nova simply means…New Life.

 

 

 

 

Aside from our famous Bug-A-Boo, another visual fun test was the Pupa Math, those pupae have such amazing camouflage we only had one visual master winner who spotted them all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

To complete the Japanese culture celebration, we brought out our origami skills and made some origami Stag Beetles for keeps.

 

 

 

 

 

If you were there with us, hope you had a critter-creepy yet awesome time!

 

 


Posted in Events & Workshops |

A Day of Love with Mother Nature

, February 13, 2014

Wow! This year, the Valentine’s Day fall on the same day as ‘Chap Go Mei’ which is also known as the Chinese Valentine’s Day. Penang Butterfly Farm has arranged a series of romantic activities for everyone on 14 FEBRUARY 2014 from 10am – 4pm.

We invite you to join us and celebrate this special day of love with mother nature and bring home sweet memories.

Happy Valentine’s Day!


Posted in Events & Workshops |