SAN PASQUAL VALLEY -- If you're looking for a fun spring activity, flutter by the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park this month, where the 15th annual butterfly exhibit spreads its wings April 4.

An estimated 7,000 to 10,000 butterflies from 30 to 40 South American species will hatch inside the Hidden Jungle enclosure during the Butterfly Jungle exhibit, which runs through April 26. The exhibit is one of the most popular events of the year at the park, drawing tens of thousands of visitors from throughout the region. Wearing bright colors and strong perfume are encouraged, but park visitors are advised not to reach out and touch the fragile butterflies, which have been known to land on visitors' heads, shoulders and faces, said Michael Mace, curator of birds at the Wild Animal Park.

In past years, the exhibit has been a showcase of both butterflies and orchids, but this year the park is focusing entirely on butterflies and it is expanding the butterflies to locations and exhibits all over the park, Mace said.

"This year's exhibit is subtitled 'The Pollinators,' because we want to educate our visitors about the important role that bugs, birds and bats play in conservation efforts and in the local economy," Mace said. "People may not realize that without these creatures around to pollinate the plants, we wouldn't have the agricultural crops that we do."

This year's special events include Project Butterfly, an educational, interactive magic show about the metamorphosis process (how a caterpillar becomes a butterfly) at 2 and 5 p.m. daily in the Tembo Stadium. There will be daily costume parades, where children are encouraged to dress up in their brightest hats, clothes and bug or butterfly outfits, at 3 p.m. in Nairobi Village (the park will provide some colorful costume elements for children who forget to wear their wildest ensembles).

Each day, butterfly wranglers will also do "butterfly releases," where from 100 to 1,000 newly hatched butterflies will be released into the enclosure. Mace said the diversity of the butterfly collection inside the enclosure is a big draw for local wildlife enthusiasts. Pupae are flown in from all over South America and timed to hatch throughout the run of the exhibit so that there are always new insects born daily. The butterfly most popular with visitors is the blue morpho, a electric-blue creature that can grow 5 inches across.

"We also have the zebra longwing, the orange-barred tiger, the pink rose and the giant swallowtail," Mace said. "The owl butterfly is the largest in the exhibit, with spots on their underwings that look like the eyes of an owl. We have ones as big as your hand and ones as small as your little finger, and they come in a rainbow of colors, including blue, yellow, black, red and white, and they have fascinating markings on them."

Inside the Hidden Jungle exhibit, there will be new display cases where visitors can get a close look at butterflies emerging from their cocoons. And another display will show the diverse variety of pupa (the larval stage between the caterpillar and butterfly state).

"People will be surprised to see how different these can be," he said. "Some are the size of a fingernail and some are as large as your thumb and they come in a variety of colors."

There will also be a Discovery Station near the exhibit where children can learn about bee pollinating patterns, make butterfly take-home crafts and play with bug puzzles and games. Children who want to learn more about butterflies can download a butterfly field guide from the park's Web site that they can use to identify the various insects in the exhibit.

Over in the Heart of Africa section of the park, a plant exhibit will be set up in Education Island area. There, visitors can learn about the types of nectar-producing plants that attract hummingbirds and butterflies, and also the types of plants that serve as ideal hosts for butterfly pupae. The park's Plant Trader shop will also be selling some of these plants that visitors can purchase on their way out of the park.

For visitors who'd like an even closer look at the butterflies, the park will host the Family Butterfly Bash, a family sleepover program which includes special admission to the butterfly exhibit before the park opens to the public. It will be presented April 9, 17, 18 and 25. A Junior Butterfly Bash, for toddlers ages 3 to 5 and their parents, will be presented on April 16 and 24. The park also now offers Segway tours (where visitors can see the park from the perspective of the two-wheeled moto-scooters) that will visit the Butterfly Jungle exhibit and the butterfly plant area. For prices and registration, call (800) 407-9534.

Butterfly Jungle

When: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, April 4 through 26

Where: San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park, 15500 San Pasqual Valley Road, east of Escondido

Admission: $35, general; $26, children ages 3 to 11; free for children 2 and under. Parking is $9

Phone: (760) 747-8702

Web: www.sandiegozoo.org/calendar/wap_butterfly_jungle.html