Smithsonian to set butterfly fee

Butterflies are not going to be free, at least not at the Smithsonian Institution.

In a rare move, the Smithsonian is going to charge admission for part of a new permanent exhibition called “Butterflies and Plants: Partners in Evolution.”

Admission to the Smithsonian’s Washington museums has always been free. But in recent years some lawmakers have been pushing Smithsonian officials to find new ways of meeting expenses.

The National Museum of Natural History’s two-tier look at butterflies will open in November. There will be a general exhibition that will focus on the evolution of plants and butterflies. It will include a window looking into a special pavilion filled with live tropical butterflies. All that will be free. But visitors who want to enter the Butterfly Pavilion, a climate-controlled space with about 300 to 400 butterflies fluttering around, will have to pay.

The Smithsonian has on rare occasions charged admission for temporary exhibitions but never for a permanent installation.