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Detroit bookstores hosting live butterfly metamorphosis for National Pollinator Month

Page’s Bookshop and Howard Family Bookstore to feature live butterfly metamorphosis kits throughout June

FILE - A butterfly sits on a leaf at Monarch Grove Sanctuary in Pacific Grove, Calif., on Nov. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Nic Coury, File) (Nic Coury)

DETROIT – Two independent bookstores in Detroit are teaming up with local lifestyle brand She SO Detroit to offer a unique, hands-on program in honor of National Pollinator Month.

Page’s Bookshop in North Rosedale Park and the Howard Family Bookstore in Harmony Village will both be hosting live butterfly metamorphosis kits throughout the month of June, allowing residents, customers and local youth to observe the miraculous transformation from caterpillars, to chrysalises, to butterflies in real-time.

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Because the entire biological process takes up to three weeks, the butterflies are expected to hatch closer to the beginning of July. Once the metamorphosis is complete, each bookstore will host a public release of their butterflies into the community.

Community members can visit the caterpillar kits during regular business hours at Page's Bookshop and Howard Family Bookstore in Detroit. (Courtesy She SO Detroit)

“Our goal is to name Detroit the city of transformation,” said Shamere Duncan, founder of She So Detroit. “We want to give Detroit youth and families a front-row seat to this beautiful process, celebrating the vital role pollinators play in our community while recognizing the potential within each of us.”

Local residents and youth who are unable to take part in the “Pollinators of Tomorrow” program in person can follow the state-by-stage metamorphosis journeys on the bookstores’ social media platforms.

To follow the butterflies’ journey online, learn more about metamorphosis, or find updates on the upcoming butterfly release dates, visit shesodetroit.com.


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