BE ADVISED: On Friday, May 15, the North American Mammal Hall and African Mammal Hall on Level 1 will be closed in preparation for Bug Fair. The North American Mammal Hall on Level 2 will remain open.

BE ADVISED: On Thursday, May 14, USC Commencement ceremonies at the LA Memorial Coliseum will impact traffic, parking, and wayfinding around the Natural History Museum. Please plan your visit accordingly, and consider riding the Metro E (Expo) Line and exiting at USC/Expo station.

Browse by Topic

Bugs

Exhibitions

Spiky, Hairy, Shiny: Insects of L.A.

Meet your tiny neighbors!

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Nature Lab

Live animals and hands-on interactives show you L.A.’s wild side.

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Children standing around the Paleo Play Zone, a counter with imitation sand and fossils, with mounted taxidermy up high on the wall in the background

Discovery Center

Dig for dinosaurs, wonder at live insects, and organize your own diorama in the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation Discovery Center.

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Butterflies photographed from above on a pink background

Butterfly Pavilion

Watch butterflies take flight around you in this seasonal exhibition.

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Spider Pavilion

Walk among spiders and their magnificent webs in this unique, open-air experience.

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Events

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Opossum on a stick sculpture with an audience in the background

nhm

Tours & Activities

Meet a Live Animal

Get up close and personal with the Museum's resident animals! Hear amazing stories about critters that are often misunderstood or overlooked.

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daily

3:00 pm

nhm

Tours & Activities

Meet a Live Animal

Get up close and personal with the Museum's resident animals! Hear amazing stories about critters that are often misunderstood or overlooked.

Learn more

daily

3:00 pm

nhm

Festivals

Bug Fair

Fly over to NHM on May 16 & 17 for our 40th annual Bug Fair, NHM's two-day fan-favorite festival celebrating our bug-eyed and multi-legged friends!

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Special Event

10:00 am

nhm

Festivals

Bug Fair

Fly over to NHM on May 16 & 17 for our 40th annual Bug Fair, NHM's two-day fan-favorite festival celebrating our bug-eyed and multi-legged friends!

Learn more

Special Event

10:00 am

nhm

Tours & Activities

Meet a Live Animal

Get up close and personal with the Museum's resident animals! Hear amazing stories about critters that are often misunderstood or overlooked.

Learn more

daily

3:00 pm

Stories

A life-like painting of a large lizard lurking over a nest of dinosaur eggs with one already in its mouth

2025 Excavated: A Look Back at Some of the Biggest NHM Discoveries

From prehistoric giant lizards and ancient raccoons to newly discovered spiders and heroic extinct dugongs, NHMLAC researchers had a busy year describing new species. Meet some of the coolest creatures our researchers described this year, along with other inspiring discoveries.

Dr. Rodrigo Monjaraz Ruedas holding specimens in a jar and wearing a head lamp at night

Sumérgete en el mundo los Arácnidos con nuestro nuevo Curador de Entomología, el Dr. Rodrigo Monjaraz Ruedas

Conoce a uno de los dos nuevos curadores de Entomología del Museo de Historia Natural, NHM y explora con nosotros la biodiversidad de arácnidos secreta en las entrañas de la tierra.

Cave Dive Into Arachnids With Dr. Rodrigo Monjaraz-Ruedas, Our New Entomology Curator

Welcome one of NHM’s two new Entomology Curators and explore the secret biodiversity of arachnids deep below the Earth’s surface

Ants Are Her Business: Meet Dr. Megan Barkdull, Our New Entomology Curator

Welcome one of NHM’s two new Entomology Curators and discover some of the secrets hiding in ant DNA

Dung beetle expedition Catalina Island crew

Join the Dung Beetle Hunt

Walk in the shoes of La Brea Tar Pits scientists who ventured to a less-trodden part of Catalina Island to scout for dung beetles in bison poop!

Coyote skull in the process of being cleaned by dermestid beetles

Behind the Scenes With The Flesh-Eating Beetles Preparing Museum Specimens

Meet the smallest and possibly most gruesome members of NHM's collection staff: flesh-eating Dermestid beetles. CONTENT WARNING: Specimen preparation is metal. There are a lot of images of dead animals in different states of decay and preparation below.

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Spiky, Hairy, Shiny: Insects of L.A.

Woman holding beat sheet under a leafy bush

Collect And Observe Bugs At Home

Learn about simple ways to collect and observe bugs with materials you have at home.

Entomology

With over 800,000 described species—more than half of all known living organisms—insects are the most diverse group of animals on Earth.

BioSCAN

This first-of-its-kind scientific investigation is discovering and exploring biodiversity in and around one of the world’s largest cities: Los Angeles.