The Newfoundland Insectarium is a multi-dimensional attraction featuring insects and arthropods from around the world. Eight years in the making, the facility is of world-class caliber. The building has a total floor area of nearly 8000 square feet and is located on a 25 acre site. The total design and construction costs of the facility were in excess of $1,000,000, and collections housed at the Insectarium are valued in the tens of thousands of dollars. Since opening, the facility has received rave reviews and nearly 200,000 visitors.
The Insectarium's design and presentation is not unlike a modern art gallery. It can be favourably compared to sections of the American Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, on a smaller scale. A visit to the facility grants the opportunity to observe an extravaganza of shapes, colors, and textures. It is a celebration of the most beautiful, fascinating, and least understood group of animals on Earth.
Wall-mounted as well as floor exhibits display insect groups from around the world. Live exhibits are interspersed, so you can view both living and preserved specimens as you wander about. In addition to live tarantulas, scorpions, and giant cockroaches, one can also observe over 10,000 active honeybees in the glass beehive. Staff members are always nearby to let visitors handle the enormous walking sticks or tropical leaf insects.
The Insectarium is one of only two of its kind in Canada, with the other located in Montreal.
The Newfoundland Insectarium was opened in 1998 by Lloyd Hollett and Gary Holloway. Before starting the Insectarium, both worked as provincial forestry employees with a special passion for insects and public education. The pair established a small insect exhibit which they introduced to local schools. Upon hearing of Georges Brossard, the world-renowned entomologist and founder of the Montreal Insectarium, Hollett wrote a letter to Brossard, asking for any assistance he might lend in developing the pair's insect exhibit. Brossard wrote a simple reply with a lofty suggestion: Why not build an insectarium in Newfoundland?
Ten years later that dream was fulfilled, and the Newfoundland Insectarium opened in Reidville, Newfoundland.