Insects

Exhibitions

Scanning Electron Microscope Lab

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

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Exhibition | NHM

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

Meet your tiny neighbors!

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Exhibition | NHM

Bugtopia

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

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Events

See all events

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

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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!

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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

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

Excavator sitting by a fossil at an excavation site, surrounded by children looking on

nhm

Adventures in Nature Day Camp: Paleo Tales

From dinosaurs to Ice Age animals, campers will make discoveries through paleo-inspired activities, meet paleontologists, and interact with real fossils!

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weekly

through 07/31/26

12:00 am

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

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.

Welcome to the 2023 LA BioBlitz Challenge

Help discover the incredible biodiversity all over Los Angeles!

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Gulf Fritillary butterflies, one with wings open and another with wings closed.

Brillantes Alas de la Mariposa

Use nuestra plantilla de mariposa para crear su propia mariposa con alas brillantes.

Classifying Insects

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.

Community Science

Community science (sometimes called citizen science) mobilizes volunteers to work alongside scientists to help answer questions about the world.

News & Press

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

Effort Connects More Than a Billion Objects in Scientific Collections Across 73 Museums in 28 Countries

Findings Shared in New Paper Published in Science Magazine on March 23, 2023