Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium, located in the U.S. Custom House on Canal Street, encourages you to use all five senses as you explore North America's largest museum devoted to insects and their relatives. You'll discover why insects are the building blocks of all life on our planet in our newest one-of-a-kind attraction. Thousands of live and preserved specimens illustrate the vast diversity of shape, size and color of Earth's largest group of animals.
Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium celebrates the world of bugs with 13 gallery rooms containing more than 70 live animal exhibits, 30 mounted specimen cases and a multisensory immersive theater experience. There are about 100 live arthropod species throughout the Insectarium and visitors can experience live insect encounters, discover cultural aspects of insects, sample exotic insect cuisine, shrink in size to see the world from a bug's perspective, and enjoy the tranquility of a Japanese garden with hundreds of butterflies!
Experience Butterflies in Flight! Relax in this serene, Asian-inspired garden as you enjoy a Koi pond, a walking path and hundreds of free-flight butterflies of various species darting about. As they move from one nectar rich flower to another, the butterflies may even rest briefly on a visitor's shoulder. Close-up encounters with these beautiful creatures provide vivid memories that will last a lifetime.
Field Camp - Visitors will learn about the tools of the trade and have an opportunity to meet an entomologist-and live bugs-as they enter the Field Camp. The gallery recreates an entomologist's field camp deep in a tropical jungle and includes a demonstration table staffed by an insect expert as well as interactive games that teach methods of identifying and classifying insects, and a number of live and preserved insects.
Bug Appetit - Insects are an important source of protein in many cultures and a culinary delight if cooked correctly. Grab a seat and sample some exotic creations prepared at the Insectarium by our bug chefs!
Awards Night! Be a part of the action. With the celebrity voices of Joan Rivers and Brad Garrett, Awards Night is a gigantic high-definition film about superstar bugs and their outstanding achievements. Expect the unexpected in this immersive theater fsas you cheer on the nominees in Awards Night.
