Backyard Monsters Creep Into Bishop Museum

Bugs are coming to Bishop Museum in a big way.  Backyard Monsters:  The World of Insects is the latest traveling exhibit that opens to the public in the Castle Memorial Building next Saturday, June 13th and will remain through September 7, 2009.

This exhibit features six robotic insects that are between 10 and 12 feet in length.  These creatures include a twelve-foot tarantula, a giant paper wasp, a Monarch butterfly, fighting ants, scorpion, fighting beetles, and a tomato caterpillar that towers eleven feet above visitors. Backyard Monsters also includes nine insect display cases and interactive exhibits that allow visitors to explore bug sounds, insect vision, and discover the worldwide insect population.  The exhibition also includes seven display cases of actual exotic insects such as Longhorn beetles, butterflies, moths and arachnids.

Events surrounding this giant exhibit include:

Member Preview Night:  Museum members get an exclusive preview on Friday, June 12th from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.  To RSVP, please call 847-8296 or email membership@bishopmuseum.org.

Bonkers for Bugs!  On June 26th from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. join Bishop Museum’s Entomology Collection Manager, Shepherd Myers, as he shows off some of the most fascinating examples of insects from the Museum’s premier collections of Pacific insects.  This event also introduces youngsters to the study of insects alongside the Backyard Monsters.  For more information please call 847-8296 or email membership@bishopmuseum.org.

Family Sunday:  July 26th from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Kama‘āina and military get a reduced rate of $3.00.  (Regular admission rates apply for all other visitors)  Food, activity booths, and educational activities enhance this family-oriented day. 

Backyard Monsters is an exhibit by Adventure Edutainment, an Odyssey Attractions/Garrner Holt Productions, LLC.  This exhibit is endorsed by the American Entomological Society and has appeared in the Field Museum in Chicago, the Science Museum of Minnesota, and Science World Vancouver.  Sponsors of Backyard Monsters at Bishop Museum are:  Coke, 7-Eleven, and Horizon Lines.

Backyard Monsters and all exhibits will be open during Museum hours (9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m except Tuesdays) through September 7, 2009.  Bishop Museum will close at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 11th.  For more information about Bishop Museum and all of its programs, exhibits, and events, please visit www.bishopmuseum.org or call (808) 847-3511.

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