An insectarium is a live insect zoo, or a museum or exhibit of live insects. Insectariums often display a variety of insects and similar arthropods, such as spiders, beetles, cockroaches, ants, bees, millipedes, centipedes, crickets, grasshoppers, stick insects, scorpions, mantises and woodlice. Displays can focus on learning about insects, types of insects, their habitats, why they are important, and the work of entomologists, arachnologists, and other scientists that study terrestrial arthropods and similar animals.
Overview
Some insectariums may include museum displays of mounted insects and exhibits about insects.
A butterfly house is a type of insectarium that specializes in live butterflies and moths. In addition, there are seasonal butterfly gardens on display at many zoos, botanical gardens, nature centers, natural history museums, and science museums.
List of insectariums
Public insectariums or insect zoos include:
Africa
- Algiers Insectarium, Algiers, Algeria
Asia
- Bangkok Butterfly Garden and Insectarium, Bangkok, Thailand
- Entopia (formerly Penang Butterfly Farm),(Penang, Malaysia)
- Gunma Insect World, Kiryū, Gunma, Japan
- Insect Science Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Australia
- Insectarium of Victoria, (Victoria, Australia)
Europe
- Insektariumas (Lithuania, Palanga)
- Stratford Butterfly Farm, Stratford-upon-Avon, England
- Esapolis, The largest insectarium in the province of Padova, Padova, Italy
North America
Canada
- Lyman Entomological Museum, Quebec, Canada
- Montreal Insectarium, Montréal
- Newfoundland Insectarium, Reidville, Newfoundland
United States
- Bayer Insectarium at the Museum of Life and Science, Durham, North Carolina
- Bohart Museum of Entomology, Davis, California
- Butterfly Pavilion, Westminster, Colorado
- Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, World of the Insect, Cincinnati, Ohio
- Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden, Strong National Museum of Play, Rochester, New York
- Henry Doorly Zoo, Butterfly and Insect Pavilion, Omaha, Nebraska
- Houston Museum of Natural Science, Brown Hall of Entomology, Houston, Texas
- Insect Adventure, Stillwater, Oklahoma
- Butterfly Biosphere Thanksgiving Point, Lehi, Utah
- The Insectarium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Monsanto Insectarium at the St. Louis Zoo, St. Louis, Missouri
- O. Orkin Insect Zoo at the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C.
- Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Ralph M. Parsons Discovery Center and Insect Zoo, Los Angeles, California
- San Francisco Zoo, InsectZoo, San Francisco, California
- Detroit Zoo, Wildlife interpretive gallery (aviary, and butterfly garden), Detroit, Michigan
- Long Island Exhibition Center