Tucked away in the busy streets of South Tampa is a little oasis. Surrounded by gray buildings and busy streets, the Little Red Wagon Native Nursery blooms with native plants and vibrant flowers.
But the nursery offers more than just plants. The newest additions to Little Red Wagon involve homes for some of our world’s most overlooked creatures. In early August, the nursery opened a botanical butterfly garden and Tampa’s first bug zoo. The unique additions honor those creatures who are lower down on the food chain, but extremely important.
“Obviously you do not want insects and rodents crawling around your house, but we’re killing things outside too,” says Anita Camacho, CEO of Butterfly Tampa and owner of Little Red Wagon. “I grew up hearing “if it moves, you spray it.’”
Camacho’s lifelong fascination with these small but significant creatures began in her childhood, when she spent extensive time outdoors and enjoyed her own backyard butterfly garden.
After her mother was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease 30 years ago, she began researching the connections between pesticides and irreversible neurological and physical conditions. Camacho became extremely passionate about eliminating the use of pesticides and made it her mission to educate the public about its unnecessary dangers.
“When she was diagnosed, I wanted to do something,” says Camacho. “If I can help anybody and make them rethink what they’re doing with pesticides, live a cleaner life, and understand the connections that we must have with nature, then I’ve made a difference.”
She’s dedicated herself to educating the public about the effects of pesticides on our bodies and the dangers of pesticide use on the creatures making up our essential food chain. The Little Red Wagon’s butterfly garden and bug zoo work in tandem to achieve that goal.
“The butterflies are the hook. Most people like to attract them,” says Camacho. “The butterflies are there to start bringing people in and getting them to make the connection that they can’t use pesticides. From there, it’s kind of evolved to other creatures than just the butterflies.”
Pesticides can kill butterflies and a wide range of other insects essential to our ecosystem. Camacho’s bug zoo draws attention to those insects.
“We’ve got Busch Gardens and the zoo focusing on big animals and we’ve got the aquarium focusing on sea life,” she says. “There was nobody focusing on the bottom of the food chain, the bugs, which feed both sides of that.”
The zoo contains around 30 species of bugs. Among the inhabitants are different types of scorpions, spiders, beetles, grasshoppers, weevils and more, all curated to educate and intrigue visitors.
To enhance the interactive bug experience, Camacho offers visitors black lights to shine on the scorpions, which are otherwise difficult to see. The black light makes the scorpions glow and look iridescent.
As visitors exit the bug zoo, they pass the non-native section featuring lizards and reptiles before arriving at the outdoor butterfly garden. Here, visitors are greeted by butterflies fluttering among milkweed and other native plants. On any day, visitors might see dozens of butterflies flying around the area.
“It is such a peaceful place,” Camacho says. “You can almost forget that you’re in Tampa!”
Camacho’s goal with the garden is to emphasize the importance of native plants in supporting local wildlife. By attracting dozens of butterflies to her garden in the middle of a bustling city, she wants to inspire visitors to create their own butterfly gardens and to landscape with native plants. She hopes visitors will leave Little Red Wagon feeling more educated and connected with nature.
“It’s really about trying to work with nature rather than work against it,” Camacho says. “When we work against it, we just work against ourselves. Look at Spiderman, Ant-Man, and all these other bug-based superheroes. Bugs are truly the superheroes of the world and they are the little things that make the world work. Without the bugs, you don’t get the other animals”
Little Red Wagon’s bug zoo and butterfly garden are open to visitors from 9:30 am to 5 pm Monday through Saturday, with last admission at 4:30 pm. On Sunday, hours are 10 am to 5 pm, with last admission at 4 p.m.
Ticket prices are $7.95 for children, $9.95 for adults and $8.95 for seniors and military. The tickets also include admission to see the Little Red Wagon’s other unique attractions, such as their living exhibit which includes reptiles, amphibians and arachnids.
For more information, go to Butterfly Tampa
For additional coverage, see Tampa advocate on mission to save the endangered monarch butterfly.
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