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Bugs

Exhibitions

Black and white image of tarantula leg
Scanning Electron Microscope Lab

See how big discoveries can come from the tiniest things in the Gem and Mineral Hall.

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Close up of Green Wasp
Exhibition | NHM
Spiky, Hairy, Shiny: Insects of L.A.

Meet your tiny neighbors!

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Girl looks at coyote display
Exhibition | NHM
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
Exhibition | NHM
Discovery Center

Dig for dinosaurs, wonder at live insects, and organize your own diorama.

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Butterflies photographed from above on a pink background
- | NHM
Butterfly Pavilion

Watch butterflies take flight around you in this seasonal exhibition.

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Events

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Sun

22

Sep

Visitors looking up, holding binoculars to their eyes
NHM

Nature Gardens Exploration
Tours & Shows All Ages
  • 11 am

Enjoy NHM’s one-of-a-kind Nature Gardens while learning more about urban wildlife. Visitors of all ages are welcome to stop by anytime during the hour and stay as long or short as you’d like!

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Sun

22

Sep

Tortoise walking on the floor with sitting children's legs and feet in the background
NHM

Meet a Live Animal
Tours & Shows All Ages
  • 3 pm

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

Learn more

Mon

23

Sep

Tortoise walking on the floor with sitting children's legs and feet in the background
NHM

Meet a Live Animal
Tours & Shows All Ages
  • 3 pm

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

Learn more

Tue

24

Sep

Tortoise walking on the floor with sitting children's legs and feet in the background
NHM

Meet a Live Animal
Tours & Shows All Ages
  • 3 pm

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

Learn more

Wed

25

Sep

Tortoise walking on the floor with sitting children's legs and feet in the background
NHM

Meet a Live Animal
Tours & Shows All Ages
  • 3 pm

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

Learn more

Stories

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Image of a completed Bug Hotel
Hotel Para Insectos

¡Crea su propio hotel para insectos para su jardín y mira quién viene a visitar!

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Caterpillar Races activity - finished craft
Caterpillar Races

Make your very own caterpillar. Then, race yours against your family or friends!

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Caterpillar Races activity - finished craft
Carreras de Orugas

Crea su propia oruga. ¡Después, compite contra su familia o amigos en una carrera de orugas!

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Image of a complete insect symmetry activity
Insect Symmetry

Use one of our templates to make your very own symmetrical insect.

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Image of a complete insect symmetry activity
Simetría de Insectos

Use una de nuestras plantillas para hacer su propio insecto simétrico.

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News & Press

Understanding Our Coast: A Guide to Southern California Marine Pillbugs

A review of nearly 200 marine pillbugs, or underwater roly-polies, will improve ocean monitoring off the coast of Southern California.

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Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County’s Dr. Luis Chiappe Co-Authors Paper on Relationship Between Feathered Dinosaurs and Beetles

“Symbiosis between Cretaceous dinosaurs and feather-feeding beetles” published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

The paper looks at amber fragments preserving the remains of feathers from the Early Cretaceous and larvae related to modern feather-feeding beetles in intimate contact
 

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A Global Plan for Parasite Conservation

Parasites are unseen heroes that maintain ecosystem stability; they are scarcely studied and highly threatened by global change, and now there is a global plan to conserve them.

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