New museum will feature 30,000 insects and arachnids, many live and touchable and some edible. The list will include termites, cockroaches, scorpions, mosquitoes, spiders

The Audubon Nature Institute calls its new Insectarium, scheduled to open June 13, the first and only free-standing museum dedicated entirely to insects and other arthropods. The museum, the latest of 11 facilities operated in New Orleans by the Institute, will feature 30,000 insects and arachnids.

Arthropoda is a scientific phylum that includes the class Arachnida, which includes all types of insects.

At first glance, the Insectarium and what it refers to as its "much maligned group of animals," appears to be the least appealing of the Institute’s facilities devoted to nature. Its butterfly garden is expected to lure people, but will visitors pay to see exhibits of cockroaches, scorpions, mosquitoes and Formosan termites?

Visitors have been attracted to similar North American facilities, including Montreal’s Botanical Garden/Insectarium, Philadelphia’s Insectarium, St. Louis’ Monsanto Insectarium, the Insectropolis in Toms River, N.J. and the Newfoundland’s Insect and Butterfly Pavilion. Montreal promotes its insect museum as one of its top tourist attractions.

Hurricane Katrina Delayed Insectarium Opening Two Years

Prior to Hurricane Katrina, which delayed the opening for two years, the Audubon Institute projected Insectarium attendance at over 400,000 annually. But that was before the city lost tens of thousands of residents to the storm and the flooding that followed when levees failed.

The Institute website says its goal is to give Insectarium visitors "a better understanding of and a greater appreciation for the important part insects play in the natural world." To emphasize its point, it says insects outnumber humans 1.5 million to one.

The Insectarium will display live animals, numerous exhibits and include plenty of "hands-on opportunities to get up close to these amazing creatures" for visitors who want to get that close to them.

"Experience what it’s like to be the size of a bug, take a trip to an entomologist’s field camp, visit a Japanese inspired butterfly garden, or sample some bug delicacies in the Cooking Show Theater," the Institute says in its promotions.

Custom House Is National Historic Landmark

The Audubon Insectarium occupies the first floor of the block-size United States Custom House building, a National Historic Landmark on Canal Street near the Mississippi River. It is two blocks from three other facilities operated by the Institute, namely the Aquarium of the Americas, Woldenberg Riverfront Park and the Entergy IMAX Theater.

The Custom House is a tourist attraction itself because of its architecture and history. Its construction began in 1848 and took 33 years.

One museum section gives visitors a bug’s eye view of the world by using special exhibitry to shrink guests to bug size. Other sections create Louisiana Swamp and French Quarter environments to show some of their insects, including the Formosan subterranean termites, cockroaches and mosquitoes that bug Quarter residents.

The museum’s cooking show features a chef preparing and serving insect delicacies. Chocolate-covered crickets anyone?

Insectarium Recruiting Voluntees to Serve as "Bug Ambassadors"

A "Hall of Fame" showcases the biggest and fastest insects. Another section illustrates insect life cycles, courting, mating and reproducing, and how to help preserve beneficial insects.

The Insectarium has developed a bug adoption program for visitors and a "bug ambassador" program for volunteers.

Other facilities operated by the Audubon Nature Institute include the Audubon Zoo, Audubon Park, Aquarium of the Americas, Freeport-McMoRan Species Survival Center, Louisiana Nature Center, Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species, Audubon Wilderness Park, Woldenberg Riverfront Park, Entergy IMAX Theater and Audubon Nature Institute Foundation.

Sources: Tree of Life Web Project, Audubon Nature Institute, Montreal Botanical Garden/Insectarium, Philadelphia Insectarium, St. Louis Monsanto Insectarium, The Insectropolis, Newfoundland Insect and Butterfly Pavilion