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In Pictures: It’s a bug’s life, we’re just along for the ride

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Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
The atrium in the American Museum of Natural History's new wing, the Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation, echoes the weathered rock formations and canyons of the American West. It opened May 5 and was designed by architect Jeanne Gang.
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| New York

In a single strip of turf, insects see a towering forest with hidden passageways. What may seem insignificant to us is a thriving universe for them.

The insectarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York brings a bug’s perspective home to us humans, who walk in as giant visitors. 

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By promoting a bug’s-eye view, the new wing at the American Museum of Natural History challenges our preconceived notions of scale and significance.

The star attraction is the ant colony. Ants are sophisticated farmers who create sprawling fungal gardens, nourished by leaves they can only obtain through cooperation. Slowly but surely, the ants navigate their way over skybridges, up poles, and across moats, adapting and learning as they explore.

The insectarium, part of the Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation, challenges our preconceived notions of scale and significance. It allows us to contemplate the incredible diversity and complexity of insect life. 

Most importantly, it reminds us that every living organism, no matter how small, plays a vital role in the grand tapestry of life on Earth.

In a single strip of turf, insects see a towering forest with hidden passageways. What may seem insignificant to us is a thriving universe for them. 

The insectarium inside the newly opened Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation at the American Museum of Natural History in New York brings this perspective home to us, the giant visitors. It allows us to contemplate the incredible diversity and complexity of insect life. 

The star attraction is the ant colony. Ants are sophisticated farmers who create sprawling fungal gardens, nourished by leaves they can only obtain through cooperation. Slowly but surely, the ants navigate their way over skybridges, up poles, and across moats, adapting and learning as they explore.

“We are studying how to maintain the colony,” says James Carpenter, curator of invertebrate zoology at the museum. Visitors “seeing the ants foraging and caring for their fungus garden is the goal.”

By promoting a bug’s-eye view, the museum’s new wing challenges our preconceived notions of scale and significance. It reminds us that every living organism, no matter how small, plays a vital role in the grand tapestry of life on Earth. 

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
A father and son take a selfie in the oversize hive replica.
Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
On display in the beetle exhibit is a shining leaf chafer, specimen No. 18.
Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
Visitors gaze out of one of the openings onto the atrium.
Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
A dyed fish specimen lets researchers study fish anatomy.
Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
A butterfly perches on a visitor’s arm in the butterfly vivarium. Along with butterflies, the center houses an insectarium and vast collections of specimens.

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
The $465 million five-story Gilder Center is the latest addition to the natural history museum’s 20 interconnected buildings. The original museum was founded in 1861.

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