by Insects are not really our thing. But our Montreal Museum Card included admission to most of the museums in the city (those museum cards get us every time), and we were practically right there when we went to the Montreal Botanical Gardens, so in we went to the Insectarium in Montreal, Canada.
The Insectarium is the largest in North America –– ooh la la la! –– and features both live and dead insect collections. Tell me you wouldn’t go!?
Actually, we both enjoyed it more than we expected. The live butterfly habitat was definitely a surprise and might have had something to do with my level of enjoyment
The museum starts with “The Alcoves,” which invites you to experience the world from an insect’s point of view — from altered vision to vibrating sensation to hopping from one blade of grass to another (I think this was in an obstacle course race we did once).
Next up is a small room with live insects in various vivariums. 18 different species are exhibited in rotation, and you can get pretty darn close (which is probably why this room is called “Tête-à-Tête”). I had no feelings of revulsion (maybe a little trepidation, though) as we peered into the different cases, so I call that a win!
I was surprised how much I enjoyed “The Dome,” which preserved many insects on display, grouped by different themes or colors in 36 different cases. Organizing by color is an easy one, but categories like “Bizarre heads” and “Long tongues” made for some unusual and fun viewing opportunities. The cover photo is from this section, a collection of Coleoptera (beetles).
The best section, however, was “The Great Vivarium,” which featured lots of butterflies flitting about (and when you’re lucky, they land right on you!) and beautiful flowers to attract them. There were also insects out and about in the room – we both liked the very long line of marching leafcutter ants, each moving a bit of leaf (see video below).
