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Join the Iowa State University Insect Zoo as we showcase over 100 living arthropods. From beetles to roaches, tarantulas, and scorpions, come get up close and personal with some very important animals! Insects and other arthropods are vital for our environment. Insects are decomposers, recycling nutrients back into the earth. They filter water and are a sign of stream health. Many arthropods help to distribute seeds of trees and plants and aerate the soil. Insects are also important pollinators, pollinating 1 out of every 3 bites of food you take!
Come spend some time exploring the bumpy exoskeleton of the death feigning beetles, feel the light touch of a walking stick on your arm, hear the hissing cockroach and touch the soft and fuzzy Rosie the tarantula.
The Insect Zoo is a traveling outreach program through the ISU Entomology Department that was started in 1995. As we travel around Iowa Spreading the Bug Love, we visit over 38,000 Iowa kids each year. Our hands-on approach helps people see the delicate importance of these misunderstood animals. We aim to educate all humans on the diverse group of Arthropods: insects, spiders, tarantulas, scorpions, millipedes, centipedes, shrimp, crabs, and lobsters.
You can visit the Insect Zoo’s website to request us to visit your school, daycare, fair, farmer’s market or even a birthday party! Zoo.ent.iastate.edu
You can even set up a family visit for a behind the scenes tour of our animal rooms!