Bug Adventure – Canadian Museum of Nature
New exhibition shows visitors the world from a bug’s perspective
Ottawa, March 14, 2024 – Enter a world where you might feel like you’ve landed in a bug version of “Honey, I shrunk the kids”. Bug Adventure, a new exhibition at the Canadian Museum of Nature—open from March 15 to October 14, 2024—invites visitors to experience the world as bugs do.
Bug Adventure was developed by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, working with Wētā Workshop, the creative team that worked on The Lord of the Rings and Avatar. There are larger-than-life bug models in amazing walk-through chambers, videos of bugs as they fly or defend themselves, and surprises around every corner.
“We’re excited to host this colourful and spectacular exhibition, filled with informative science presented in a fun way” says Isabelle Corriveau, the museum’s Director, Content & Digital Strategies. “It makes you feel like you’ve been transported to another world, and fills you with awe and wonder.”
“Not everyone loves bugs. Some fear them, some don’t understand them, some are ambivalent. The main goal of Bug Adventure is to transform attitudes and open up hearts and minds to new learning,” says Corriveau.
In this exhibition, the word bugs refers to insects, arachnids, and myriapods (eg. millipedes). They are arthropods—the most diverse and abundant animal group on the planet—and they’ve been around for 400 million years. As visitors move through fantastical displays and interactive stations, they’ll explore bugs’ superpowers: strong exoskeletons, swarm intelligence, precision flight, deception and camouflage, silk and venom.
Four uniquely-themed bug chambers with exquisitely-crafted, giant, detailed models highlight the adaptive genius of certain insects. In one of these giant pods, visitors encounter a jewel wasp injecting venom into a cockroach to effectively “zombify” it. In another chamber, visitors enter a hive where Japanese honeybees engulf an invading giant hornet, using heat from their rapidly vibrating wing muscles to “cook” the enemy.
Four uniquely-themed bug chambers with exquisitely-crafted, giant, detailed models highlight the adaptive genius of certain insects. In one of these giant pods, visitors encounter a jewel wasp injecting venom into a cockroach to effectively “zombify” it. In another chamber, visitors enter a hive where Japanese honeybees engulf an invading giant hornet, using heat from their rapidly vibrating wing muscles to “cook” the enemy.
There are many interactive stations—with so much interesting information to absorb—to keep visitors busy. For example, the Schmidt Sting Pain Index compares the pain intensity of various species’ stings, the lowest being the red fire ant (1) to the bullet ant (4+). American entomologist Justin Schmidt developed the pain index, after subjecting himself to stings from 83 Hymenoptera (bees, wasps and ants).
Visitors will also discover how these tiny wonders have inspired cutting-edge research, such as the Robobee, Harvard-designed “swarm” Kilobots, the impact-absorbing Elios drone, and much more.
The exhibition, which hails from New Zealand, includes some Māori objects, such as a Pūtōrino (flute made from wood, shell and vine). Its shape was inspired by the bag’s moth cocoon. There is a specimen of a Wellington tree wētā—an important bug for the Māori. Also on display is a woodcarving ‘whakairo’ with curved patterns inspired by the trails that grubs make in trees. The word ‘whakairo’ (carving) means ‘to make like a grub’.
The Canadian Museum of Nature has developed and added some Canadian content for the exhibition’s run in Ottawa, highlighting “bugs in our backyard”, and the work of museum entomologists. Visitors will be able to see a few live species—such as forked fungus beetle, Western black widow spider, and black-and-gold millipede—cared for by the museum’s animal care team.
Throughout the exhibition there are numerous activities to keep young visitors busy. Children will have fun sliding through the body of a giant bombardier beetle. They can also try out various games that will appeal to all ages; for example, they can make their own bug out of paper and test it in a wind tunnel, or compare their speed against that of an orchid mantis to catch a flying bug.
On weekends and Thursday evenings until the end of June, and then daily throughout the summer, a museum science interpreter will be in the gallery to engage visitors with the rich hands-on content in the exhibition, as well as with live bugs!
The special exhibition fee for Bug Adventure is $12 ($8.50 for children, students 13-17, and seniors) in addition to the cost of general museum admission. (On Thursdays from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. when general admission is free, the fee for Bug Adventure still applies). Purchase tickets in advance at nature.ca.
The Museum is located at 240 McLeod Street (at Metcalfe St.), Ottawa. See nature.ca for hours and other information. Follow the Museum on X, formerly known as Twitter (@museumofnature), Instagram (museumofnature), YouTube and on Facebook.
Interesting facts
- Insects (such as mantises, dragonflies, wasps, beetles, bees, ants, butterflies) have 6 legs. Their bodies are divided into 3 main parts.
- Arachnids (spiders and scorpions), have 8 legs. Their bodies are divided into 2 main parts.
- Myriapods (such as centipedes and millipedes) have many legs and many parts to their bodies.
- Orchid mantises are masters of display and deception. They blend in perfectly among orchids, where they wait to catch flies and other insects. A mantis can strike in less time than it takes for a human to blink.
- The world’s heaviest insect is the the giant wētā (Deinacrida heteracantha)—New Zealand’s colossal cricket.
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