Giant Bug Invasion at the Canadian Museum of Nature

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Oct. 21, 2015) - Some imposing looking bugs are taking over the Canadian Museum of Nature (CMN) this fall. Bugs: Outside the Box, a travelling exhibition produced by Outhouse Exhibition Services, is on view at the Museum from October 23, 2015 to March 27, 2016.

Bugs: Outside the Box brings visitors instantly face to face with the insect world. Sixteen, larger-than-life models of exotic insects, created by Italian sculptor Lorenzo Possenti, dominate the gallery.

"This exhibition offers a multisensory experience," says Meg Beckel, CMN President and CEO. "To complement the beautiful sculptures in the travelling show, we've added live insects, scientific specimens, stunning video, and even some bugs to taste!"

Visitors will learn about the work of CMN entomologists; discover both exotic and local insect species; enjoy spectacular, large images of beetles from the Museum's collection; see countless pinned insects; follow a "bug parade" video projection, and be able to purchase edible bugs right in the gallery.

A definite highlight will be the various live creatures, particularly monarch butterflies fluttering around their 2.74 metre (9-feet-high) enclosure. Other terraria will house forbidding-looking insects of many kinds: Hercules beetles, giant stick insects, spiny jungle nymphs and more.

Children will love crawling around the play area in the gallery where they can roll like a dung beetle, hop like a grasshopper, don a bug eye mask, and be a beetle "heavy weight lifter".

Other related programming includes a Science Corner near the Museum's Animalium gallery on the 4^th floor. Visitors of all ages will enjoy being a bug scientist where they can learn how to pin insects, and practice their skills at drawing them as well. Giant bug invasion will also be the theme of the Museum's popular Nature Nocturne party on Friday, October 30. On Halloween weekend, children are encouraged to transform into little pollinators and embark on a fun, flower-finding quest in our Bird Gallery for the "pollinator challenge".

This exhibition is supported by Orkin Canada. A surcharge of $4 (in addition to regular museum admission) applies to the special Bugs: Outside the Box exhibition. For more information about Museum hours and activities, visit nature.ca. Follow the museum on Twitter and Instagram (museumofnature) as well as on Facebook.

The Canadian Museum of Nature is Canada's national museum of natural history and natural sciences. The museum provides evidence-based insights, inspiring experiences and meaningful engagement with nature's past, present and future. It achieves this through scientific research, a 10.5 million specimen collection, education programs, signature and travelling exhibitions, and a dynamic web site, www.nature.ca.