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The Mariposario del Drago – Tenerife’s butterfly gardens |
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Written by Steve Andrews
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 In Icod de los Vinos in the north of Tenerife, besides the attraction of the Drago Milenario thousand-year-old Dragon Tree, there is also another place that has proved to be very popular with visitors and locals alike, and that is the Mariposario del Drago butterfly gardens and centre.
The Mariposario del Drago is at the end of the road known as Avenida de Canarias that lies below the squares in the vicinity of the most famous Tenerife Dragon Tree, and so it is convenient for visitors coming to see this part of Icod. Once you have paid to enter you go into the glass-roofed building, which is full of exotic flowering plants, bushes and creepers with a water gardens included, and it really feels like some enchanted corner of paradise with all the beautiful butterflies flying freely around you
 There are many different species that can be seen including brightly coloured Monarchs (Danaus plexippus), the gaudy Heliconius butterflies (Heliconius charitonius & H. doris), the very large and very rare black and white Paper Kite or Rice Paper butterfly (Idea leuconoe) and various species of Swallowtail (Papilio spp). And it’s not just exotic butterflies because the Mariposario del Drago also breeds one of the largest moths in the world, the Atlas Moth (Attacus atlas), as well as the beautiful Moon Moths (Argemma mittrei) and the very unusual Death Head’s Hawk Moth (Acherontia atropos).
 The butterflies and moths are shown in the different stages of their metamorphosis and an area devoted to the breeding of the insects has cages full of caterpillars all munching away at their food-plants, whilst strange and often exquisitely ornate chrysalises are also displayed as they get ready to hatch out.
 Some of the butterfly chrysalises look like small polished metal trinkets or carved jewels and they gleam in shades of gold and bronze and jade green. If you are lucky and in the Mariposario at just the right moment it is possible to watch an adult butterfly emerge from the chrysalis that has been its last stage of development.
 Besides the insects in Tenerife’s Mariposario, there are also ornamental Koi carp in the ponds and several terrapins as well that haul themselves out and bask in the warm air and filtered sunlight. Tiny birds also flit about and sing and there are special feeders placed for their benefit. Relaxing New Age music adds to the spell the place casts upon you as you wander the pathways admiring the flowers and butterflies all around you.
 Down a flight of steps there is an exhibition room with wall-charts and display models showing stages of the lifecycle of a butterfly, as well as cases of mounted specimens of butterflies that died of natural causes in the garden. A cinema room provides screenings of interesting films about all sorts of insects besides butterflies and moths. You can get to watch Stag Beetles (Lucanus cervus) battling on a log, as an example of what can be seen on one of the films.
 Tenerife’s Mariposario del Drago is open 9.00 - 18.00 from Monday to Saturdays and 9.30 – 18.00 Sundays and Holidays (in winter), and 9.00 – 19.00 from Mondays to Saturdays and 9.30 – 19.30 Sundays and Holidays (in summer). The gardens are accessible for wheelchair users. Visitors to the Mariposario del Drago are allowed to take as many photos of the butterflies and exotic flowers as they wish.
The Mariposario del Drago is one of the “must-see” places to visit if you really want to see what the island of Tenerife can offer.
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Tenerife Island 
