Insects

Exhibitions

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

Meet your tiny neighbors!

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Bugtopia

See bugs from around the world, including beetles, mantids, spiders, and more.

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Events

See all events

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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

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

Child in yellow t-shirt with a name tag and holding up an insect encased in a yellow block on a stick

nhm

Kids & Family Youth

Adventures in Nature Day Camp: Insect Investigators

Join us for bug-themed projects, up-close encounters with live bugs, time in the Museum’s expansive Nature Gardens and Nature Lab, and the chance to meet real museum entomologists!

Learn more

weekly

through 07/02/26

12:00 am

nhm

Kids & Family Youth

Adventures in Nature Day Camp: Insect Investigators

Join us for bug-themed projects, up-close encounters with live bugs, time in the Museum’s expansive Nature Gardens and Nature Lab, and the chance to meet real museum entomologists!

Learn more

weekly

through 07/02/26

12:00 am

nhm

Kids & Family Youth

Adventures in Nature Day Camp: Insect Investigators

Join us for bug-themed projects, up-close encounters with live bugs, time in the Museum’s expansive Nature Gardens and Nature Lab, and the chance to meet real museum entomologists!

Learn more

weekly

through 07/02/26

12:00 am

Stories

A yellowish-green Sapayoa bird on a branch in a tropical forest

One Tropical Bird's History Through the Lens of Lice

NHM's new Ornithology Collections Manager, Juliana Soto-Patiño, discovers the evolutionary origins of the mysterious Sapayoa aenigma through its parasitic louse

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

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

An adult petroleum fly Helaeomyia petrolei taken with a keyence microscope

Get Stuck on Petroleum Flies

KQED’s Deep Look gets up close and personal with the Tar Pits most successful (and smallest) predator

From Butterflies With Love

A behind-the-scenes look reveals how the butterflies in our Pavilion help protect their native habitats

Elephant Hill Community Nature Celebration and Habitat Survey

Join community members and scientists, Saturday, October 14, to celebrate and study nature on Elephant Hill, an open space in North East L.A. valuable to humans and wildlife.

Discover more

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.

Past Projects

While NHM is not currently working on these projects, they have influenced our current community science projects.

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.

Spider Survey

We are asking people to collect spiders in their homes and gardens, fill out a simple data sheet about their collection, and send or bring them to the Natural History Museum.

SuperProject

The SuperProject is a one year long FREE program run by the Urban Nature Research Center (UNRC) at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.