Insect Zoo at National Museum of Natural History

Washington, DC, United States

4.6

Open now

17 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

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Telephone:
+1 202-357-1729
Website:
www.mnh.si.edu
Address:
10th St and Constitution Ave NW, Washington, DC, DC, 20560
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
850 ftFederal Triangle
0.2 mi088;Smithsonian Ca
0.2 mi089;GeodeticMarker
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Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes

Today

Today 10:00 am – 5:30 pm
Open now
Local time (Washington, DC) 1:40 PM Tuesday, June 24, 2025

Business hours

Monday 10:00 am – 5:30 pm
Tuesday 10:00 am – 5:30 pm
Wednesday 10:00 am – 5:30 pm
Thursday 10:00 am – 5:30 pm
Friday 10:00 am – 5:30 pm
Saturday 10:00 am – 5:30 pm
Sunday 10:00 am – 5:30 pm

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17 reviews of Insect Zoo at National Museum of Natural History

No registration required
Place rating: 5
Falls Church, VA
My daughter loves the butterfly house. After we do that, she loves walking around and is interested in the exhibits in the building.
Place rating: 4
Nashville, TN
We couldn’t stomach the line for the Butterfly Garden (and truthfully, I don’t relish the idea of insects of any sort flocking about me, rainbow wings or no), so we proceeded into the insect zoo and were delighted with the bugs, the exhibits, and the interactive displays. And unlike the butterfly plague house, it’s free!
Place rating: 4
Washington, DC
This is a fun and interactive exhibit for children and adults alike. I had the fun privilege of holding and canoodling with a hissing cockroach. Now granted if I found this thing in my house, it would be under my foot and then flushed down the toilet for disposal, but it was a neat experience seeing it up close and personal and learning about its existence. I also got to have the same privilege with a big grasshopper. It wasn’t as thrilling as the hissing cockroach though. You should have seen the look on my co-worker’s face when I said «look!»
The exhibit continues with other insects inside of glass enclosures and what not with lots of information provided about their existence and how they came to be. I would not recommend this exhibit for the faintly hearted. This is a kid’s dream otherwise and highly recommend checking this out while in the museum.
Place rating: 4
Göteborg, Sweden
They have many different really cool leaf-​looking insects here!
For some reason this part of a museum is always fascinating.
You get the chance to hold a few of those creeps as well…
Place rating: 5
Westport, CT
This is really amazing and the kids can get up close with creatures they’ll never want to anywhere else. The interactive elements with staff involved are also impressive but my suggestion is to get their when the doors open so as to not get pushed to the side by the masses that descend upon a free museum…
Place rating: 5
Washington, DC
This place is incredible! As a kid, I was fascinated by little invertebrate critters. I came here expecting to be disappointed, but I was surprised to find all of my childhood favorites here: Giant leaf insects, an orchid manis, giant water beetles, and even a black and orange centipede that was about 1 inch wide and 1 foot long. No goliath beetle, unfortunately… but they had a black widow spider and a brown recluse! These are secure enclosures, of course.
The whole exhibit is free except for the butterflies which cost about $ 6 per person to see… it didn’t seem worth it so didn’t go in there.
The ‘zoo’ is fairly small so make sure to stop by the rest of the museum while you’re there. There are plenty of other neat things to see.
Place rating: 4
Las Vegas, NV
What a fun area in the Natural History Museum! It succeeded in giving me the heebie-​jeebies and I learned some new things.
Despite it being a pretty empty DC weekend, this spot in the museum was rather overrun. Part of it is a rather slim space, making it quite difficult to get into when there’s a crowd. And, of course, a lot of the insects are in small holes you have to bend down to see and you can only spot them (as a lot of insects are on the smaller side) if your face is right up to the glass. This makes for a challenge when there are tons of small children running about.
But it’s worth the exercise of extreme patience. It’s a pretty damn cool exhibit. From everyday insect house guests to the hidden creatures crawling in the desert sand, you can see them here.
Place rating: 4
Summit, NJ
Good, decent price and see and learn alot!
Place rating: 5
Monterey, CA
OMG! Dermestids! Orange-​kneed tarantulas! Chinese dead leaf mantis! Honey bees, even buzzing on the outside makeshift ‘homes’! Hatching butterflies! Swimming water bugs! Wow! This place is an entomologists dream! NO! It’s awesome for anyone, even those who don’t like creepy crawlies!
Place rating: 3
Houston, TX
my friend loves this! its cool but gives me this tickling gross feeling. Very cool for the kiddies!
Place rating: 5
Prince Frederick, MD
Don’t forget to stop in here during your visit, especially if you have kids. They love it. Last time we caught the tarantula feeding.
Place rating: 5
Denver, CO
This really is one of the coolest things the Smithsonian does. It is what I remember from growing up as a little kid in DC and it is still oneof my favorite aspects of the Natural History Museum and of the Smithsonian as a whole. I was just in here the other day and realized is still captures the kids and adults’ attention like nothing else. I love the old docents in lab coats.
Pity about the name but still love the space.
Place rating: 5
Columbus, OH
Show me a living creature that possesses more than 4 legs and I’ll wow you with my sprinting skills that you probably never knew I had… in my heels.
That said, so long as those creepy crawlies stay in a glass cage, I’ll breathe a sigh of relief.
As other reviewers have mentioned, one may not realize that the Insect Zoo exists inside the Museum of Natural History as it is tucked to the corner. One look at the first cage may drive the more faint-​of-​heart away, but stay and you’ll be glad you did for the quintessential multi-​legged critters. Inarguably the highlight of the museum, one tour of the mini-​zoo will keep the youngins occupied for a good hour (or at least it did for me but only because I’m easily amused.)
Just be sure to come in between meals so as to avoid a vomiting episode :)
Pictures uploaded.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
This was definitely one of my favorite parts of the National Museum of Natural History. It’s kind of like being in a pet store, except that rather than being food for larger animals, these insects are the main attraction. They’re so gross and weird. The entire time I was in here, I was waiting for some crazy person to break the glass and for the power to simultaneously go out. Seriously. I was thinking about the safest way to escape should an insect break-​out occur.
Place rating: 5
Mansfield, MA
I had no idea this was in the Museum of Natural History until I just so happened to come upon the exhibit. Very interesting… I hate bugs but I loved the exhibit. The giant cockroaches were disgusting… I think I had bad dreams for a week because of them. Lots of tarantulas, scorpions, and other buggies. Check it out — maybe it’ll help you get over your fear of bugs.
Place rating: 5
Washington, DC
The creepy crawlies were all over my hand, and it was all I could do to keep myself from squashing the Florida grasshopper – it’s an automatic reaction (squashing bugs) that the bug handlers will help you get over. The handler that I dealt with was a polite, patient fellow in a white lab coat – a spokesman for the bugs.
If you don’t like touching the insects, don’t worry – there are plenty of caged insects, and displays on how they hunt, breed, build nests, etc. There are some little stools along the tarantula cages, in case you want to just sit there like a weirdo a stare all day at the things. An offbeat and educating experience!
Place rating: 5
San Ramon, CA
If you like the creepy crawling things, this is the place for you. This is a well set up display of insects. It’s not just a place to view the buggies, it’s a place where you can interact with them under the supervision of the specialists at the Museum.
As you can imagine, it gets crowded with youngsters for most of the day. Since it’s in the Museum of Natural History, you can alway just come back later if it’s too crowded for your tastes.