Hi, I visited recently several innovative science museums and was inspired to design insect house using the same techniques. Lots of fun connecting to my inner child Tell me what do you think about it JUREK'S BUTTERFLY AND MAGIC KINGDOM – ULTIMATE INVERTEBRATE HOUSE ENTRANCE – INSECT SHOW Near the entrance there is a bay for children, with a short puppet show and animated film and sing along. It starts with a human who laments that the world around is barren and lifeless. Then he hears a little voice, explaining that it cared for life since forever, but human has driven it away polluting the environment. The creatures, which look like a plump green and grey Minions, introduce themselves as Isidium and explain that they are a team of a fungi and alga. Then they start working and singing along. Other muppet-like creatures join one by one: lichens, tardigrades, springtails, mosses, snails, spiders and lots of other lifeforms, and sing what they do. Even spiders and birds as policement, to keep others in check. Afterwards all these critters explain that only after they together created the environment, human can live, and they will happily work forever, unless the human drives them away again. This shows the importance of learning about insects – they are invisible, but human life depends from them, and with the environmental destruction, their ecosystem services are not longer guaranteed. MAIN HALL: MAGIC KINGDOM GENERAL DESIGN Adult visitors often find insects too small to be interesting, therefore big artifical models were added. The exhibit is themed as if visitors shrunk to the tiny size and walked under two storey-high daffodils, daisies, mushrooms and strawberries. Big insect models accompany live exhibits. Visitors see and get the information looking at the big models and screens, and look at the small live insect only as a confirmation. Huge models are surrounded by live plant species with giant leaves and stems, which fit the theme: Giant Rhubarb Gunnera magnicata, Elephant's Ear Colocasia esculenta, bamboo and giant grasses. The hall can be viewed on two levels. Second storey gallery surrounds the hall. It allows better look at models of insects in flight, to see ground level of the two story high anthill, and to supervise children who are climbing on the upper level of the playground. The hall has no linear route and no linear storyline. There are multiple sub-exhibits and paths. This emphasises diversity of insects and multitude of issues related to entomology. This variety is further emphasized by two long exhibits which weave across all the building: pathway of live leafcutter ants, and big wall with displays of butterflies and other stuffed insects. INSECT MODELS Spread around the hall are realistic giant models of insects and invertebrates. They show details of bodies, including breathing, hearing, sound-making and sensing organs which and located completely differently than in mammals. Models are: two-floor tall model of a hummingbird hawkmoth putting its long proboscis down into a flower, a ladybug and an European rhinoceros beetle to ride on, menacing praying mantis to photograph like somebody was caught by it, mutant lab fruitfly with colored eyes, peacock jumping spider, jumping migratory locust, Anopheles malaria mosquito emerging from chrysalis (“the most dangerous animal on Earth”), a pair of hoverflies mating in flight, hovering honeybee with collected pollen, a red forest ant with a needle explaining why small size makes insects super-strong, beautiful treehopper laying an egg, and silkmoth caterpillar in process of wrapping itself into a cocoon. INDOOR PLAYGROUND Behind the central bunch of giant plant models is indoor children playground. Much of it is a wooden climbing frame themed as an anthill which lets children walk and play overehad. This extends the area avialable to play over much of the exhibit, and lets children wander over heads of adults. The overhead paths and tunnels extend outdoors and connect to the outdoor playground. Children can crawl on a giant spider web, slide and walk in a maze of termite tunnels, hop next to grasshopper models, climb giant mushrooms and climb the wall like about any insect. There are explanations e.g. how small size of insects enables them to be very strong and climb walls, and how size determines how animal is build – small animals are more influenced by wind and surface forces, so have many legs, spread wide and equipped with claws or suckers. BLUE SCREEN – MICROSCOPIC INSECTS AND SHOWING CONSERVATION PROJECTS There are two bays with large screens on the walls, ceiling and floor, showing different environments. Next to them are blue-screen photo studio chamber, where visitors can see themselves on the screen and take pictures. They show insect life: inside anthill between ants or sitting on a flower with butterflies. They are also showing microscopic arthropods – e.g. leaf litter and human skin. Other views transport visitors to nature reserves which zoo helps to protect. People can see views of reserves, wild animals, and have their photo taken e.g. surrounded by zebras in an African national park, on a treetop in rainforest at sunset. They can also donate to these conservation projects. GAMES AND OPERABLE MODELS Numerous computer screens show life of insects, and there are simple computer games. They let children e.g. play chase games of various dragonflies and prey insects chasing each other. Or visitors can instuct a honeybee on a screen to dance, showing others where is the nectar. Next to it is a live beehive behind glass, and the cursor shows on the nearby garden where the honeybees would be directed. There are several interactive models of insects, which children can operate remotely. They can learn about insect body plan by letting a male mosquito bite plant stem with its complex mouthparts, or pushing two stag beetles in a fight. PEOPLE WHO STUDY INSECTS Several bays show equipment of a taxonomist, an early geneticist, conservationist and a beekeeper. Visitors can try beekeepers costume, play to identify colorful treehopper specimens under a light microscope, and design an insect reserve. They can also see various mutants of Drosophila fruitfly – one of most useful insects in its special way and learn about inheritance and homeotic genes. Nearby are: live bee colony, live insects, fruitfly breeding area, and rare bettle species. This exhibit is meant to show especially how insects are studied, and some aspects of genetics. ENORMOUS DIVERSITY (INSECT SPECIMENS) There is large wavelike wall which weaves all across the room. It exhibits several thousands of mounted colorful butterflies and other insect specimens, called 'enormous diveristy'. The sign asks to find two insects of the same species. There is only one such: male and female stag beetle. The exhibit shows systematics of invertebrates.
LIVE EXHIBITS To interest people, exhibits are normally big, at least a square metre in area, showing hundreds of individual insects. They are not hidden in walls, but situated as columns in the middle of visitor path – going twoards visitors. Human-sized cardboard models in the style of cartoon Maja the Honeybee animals are showing species in terraria, and commenting in cartoon balloons 'I am pollinating flowers' and so on. DIORAMAS Several exhibits of live insects are bigger, and are made like dioramas showing habitat and several insect species native to this particular area. Insects are living in smaller glass exhibits betwen the mockup exhibit. The dioramas are: African, South American and Malaysian rainforests, African savanna, Mexican cactus desert, Mediterranean shrubland, shallow pond and cave. TOUCHABLE EXHIBITS Displays of non-flying and non-poisonous invertebrates are openable and touchable. These include colorful tree snails, stick insects, leaf insects, guitar praying mantises, flower beetles, giant millipedes and leaf-cutting ants. These can be opened from all sides by sliding down the glass panels, and be touchable. Then the insect area is surrounded by ca 20 cm. canal of water. Visitors are allowed to gently touch the insect, but not pick or stroke it. Volunteer supervision takes care of eventual unruly visitors. Nearbly is a corner about keeping insects. It presents non-controversial pets like stick insects, or raising caterpillars to grow butterflies. There is also contact to hobbyist groups. ANT ANIMATRONICS There is an animatronic diorama of an ant colony. One can see animatronic ants moving, carrying things, caring for the queen, commensal insects moving. Periodically, in the side tunnell, a huge tongue of an anteater swings in. The whole concept and the mechanical ants are made in a similar way as model railways or boat ports in a transportation museum, and likewise the activity captures attention of visitors. ANT COLONY Next to it is a live formicarium (live colony of ants Atta cephalotes in glass containment). It is not usual set of glass rectangles and pipes. It is two story tall, and the layout mimics shape of real ant nest chambers. On top, there is a wide path circling around the building. It is covered with dirt and dead leaves, and shows that Atta ants build long highways – wide paths, about a foot wide, cleared of leaf litter, which can go for several hundreds of meters. In the wild, colonies of leaf-cutting ants are even bigger: they reach up to 7 meters underground and ant walkways extend for 1000s of meters. Besides it is open-air exhibit of tamanduas, which can walk on tree trunks over visitors heads. Nearby is overhead footpath where children can cross the path the same way. Next to it are insect-eating marmosets which ran in mes tunnells over visitors heads. There is an explanation how tracheae limit size of insects, and this limits the size of insectivore animals. Another insect-eating creature is a pool with archerfish. During feeding time, visitors can see how these fish spit water to grab its meal. NIGHT EXHIBIT AND GLOW WORMS One darkened room features light-producing insects. It is made as a panorama of savanna in Emas national park in Brazil, which is the site of amazing natural spectable. It is dotted by termite mounds colonized by bioluminescent beetle larvae. Live animals are cane toads and three-banded armadillos. The walls can change into a movie hall with educational films shown on the walls. CAVE The path goes a Brazilian cave with beautiful stalactites. Inhabitants are leaf-nosed bats which can fly into the night insect exhibit. The ground is carpeted by large number of cave crickets. In glass exhibits are blind cave fish, scolopendra, rainbow boas, ocelots and barn owls. These animals either live in caves, shelter in caves, or regularily go deep into caves hunting bats. Ocelots and barn owls have large outside netted exhibits. TERMITE COLONY Another exhibit features termite mound. There is a live termite colony. Nearby are exhibits of animals which have ecological relationships with termites: night exhibit of aardvarks exhibited with bat-eared foxes which both eat termites, monitor lizards, which use constant temperature in the mound to incubate their eggs, red-and-yellow barbets which also nest in termite mounds, exhibited together with golden spiny mice. These mice use old, abandoned mounds for shelter. TREE TRUNK The path goes through the hollow trunk of a giant fallen rainforest tree. Visitors see here, partially overhead, giant colonies of cockroaches, bird spiders, scorpions, scolopenders, and also reticulated pythons.
BUTTERFLY KINGDOM Visitors walk – or emerge from the cave part in a hot glasshouse full of free-flying butterflies. This part is themed “Insects across the world” and visitors walk through many different habitats in miniature, all inhabited by insects residing in smaller terraria set between the plants. There is a desert with succulents, savanna with a giant fake baobab dominating the middle of the room, with hanging African beehives, then a two-story rainforest. 3D MOVIE THEATRE Separate is 3D movie theatre, showing educational films. OUTDOOR AREA: BUTTERFLY GARDEN AND POND The area outdoors includes a butterfly garden and dragonfly ponds. There are banks to sit. There is an anthill of native ants, which can be observed in their work behind the glass. There is an example how to make a garden friendly to native insects and other animals. OUTDOOR PLAYGROUND This is an extension of the indoor children playground, and children can pass indoor and outdoor through small doors in the climbing frame on the first floor level. It includes a climbing frame with slides, modelled like tree trunk hollowed by carpenter ants, and a sand pit with a model of antlion larva and a solitary wasp. INSECT SHOW There is a display arena, where an insect show is taking place several times a day. It is directed to the subcategory of visitors who want to absorb knowledge completely passively. There are presenters dressed in insect costumes performing comedic show. There is also a competition. An insect presenter shows insects and films about them, and visitors are asked to vote which insect wins the title of the most beautiful, most deadly and most useful insect. NATIVE HABITATS There is also a conservation path showing small replicas of endangered local habitats: a little patch of decidious forest, a 10x5 m recreated salt marsh, native meadow, and specimens of insects which require this habitat. The message is to care avout local biodiversity. That's all. Tell me if it would be a cool zoo exhibit (or a museum? ) to visit.
