Members see it first, for free!
In addition to other amazing benefits, Frost Science members get to see Bugs first! Members are invited to an exclusive sneak preview of the exhibition on Friday, November 22. Become a Member today.

Marvel at a larger-than-life world where you learn about bugs—from bugs—and experience their unbelievable capabilities.

Alert the hive! Bugs, a cinematic, immersive exhibition that makes the world under your feet larger-than-life, is coming to Frost Science. Highlighting the biology and evolution of bugs, and how their abilities inspire advances in engineering and nanotechnology, Bugs explores the science of these amazing tiny animals.

As you buzz through this stunning exhibition, you’ll meet six bug ambassadors, each hundreds of times larger than they are in real life. Step into the bug-bassador’s chambers to immerse yourself in their world and experience life through their senses. Discover bugs’ superpowers through hands-on, interactive activities, like navigating an orchid mantis’s secret garden and watching a jewel moth perform “brain surgery” on its prey.

Whether you are being ambushed by an orchid mantis, protecting your hive from an invader, or examining the detailed physics of dragonfly flight, Bugs will transport you into a hidden world where reality is truly stranger than fiction.

Standout exhibition features include:

  • Four immersive theaters that put you at the center of dramatic scenes from a bugs life
  • Scientific displays that highlight how the study of bugs has driven technological innovation
  • Hands-on activities that allow you to see how their talents measure up against insects’ extraordinary capabilities

Bugs will be on view from Saturday, November 23, 2024, through Sunday, April 20, 2025, inside the Hsiao Family Special Exhibition Gallery on the first floor of the museum. Admission to Bugs is included with all museum admission tickets.

Bugs was developed by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa with Weta Workshop Limited.

To explore the Bugs Educator Guide, click here.

Did You Know?

Queen Bee

There can be as many as 60,000 bees in a colony, nearly all daughters of a single queen.

MUSEUM MAP

Bugs Level 1