This is some kind of cocoon incubation tank in the new Live Butterfly Pavilion at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. We were lucky enough to catch a couple of butterflies just coming out; note how the butterfly at right gives the newbie some help.
More photos from the Butterfly exhibit here.
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See also
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/03/the_miracle_of_birth.php
for a similar video involving toads.