Natural History Wanderings

Becoming the focus of conspiracy theories about child sex trafficking has caused the National Butterfly Center to shut its doors for now.

For nearly two decades, the National Butterfly Center has provided a place of wonder along the banks of the Rio Grande, attracting curious visitors and nature enthusiasts from around the country to watch delicate creatures like the xami hairstreak float over flowers and alight on logs.

Among those who trade in outlandish right-wing conspiracies online, though, the center is said to be something else: a cover for human smuggling, sex trafficking and the exploitation of children. The lies have spread so widely in recent years that the center is now receiving visitors with no interest in butterflies at all.

Read more at How a Butterfly Refuge at the Texas Border Became the Target of Far-Right Lies