Insectarium butterfly pavilion construction botanical garden january 2017

The Insectarium was a museum about insects which was located in the northeast part of

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

History and features

The museum opened in 1992 and features displays of many types of live insects, mounted specimens, exhibits and hands-on activities. Examples of the live insects (and other

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

s) include

honeybees A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the current cosmo ...

tarantulas Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. , 1,040 species have been identified, with 156 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although m ...

cockroach Cockroaches (or roaches) are a paraphyletic group of insects belonging to Blattodea, containing all members of the group except termites. About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known as ...

es,

scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...

spiders Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species dive ...

, praying mantis, millipedes,

beetles Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

water bug Waterbug or water bug can refer to any of several things: True bugs * The true water bugs (Nepomorpha), including such insects as giant water bugs, creeping water bugs and backswimmers * Various other aquatic true bugs, known collectively as wate ...

s, ants, and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

s. In 2017, the museum expanded and opened a 7,000-square-foot greenhouse for a year-round butterfly pavilion. At this time the business changed hands from Steve Kanya to John Cambridge. Following a reported heist of rare live insects in 2018, the insectarium was the subject of a four-part, true crime documentary titled

Bug Out "Bug Out" is a special hour-long episode of ''M*A*S*H'', and the premiere of the fifth season. It first aired on CBS on September 21, 1976. Plot Rumors begin to circulate that the 4077th will soon have to move in order to stay ahead of North Ko ...

that was released in 2022. On March 13, 2023, the Insectarium filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...

. The Insectarium was then evicted by the sheriff on May 30, 2023. Following the eviction, building's owner reported the building has been damaged. When the estate's attorney and the sheriff's deputy arrived, all the toilets, urinals, mirrors and windows were smashed. The animals from the museum have been moved to a conservation group called Wild Things Preserve.

References

External links

Philadelphia Insectarium & Butterfly Pavilion
- official website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Philadelphia Insectarium and Butterfly Pavilion Museums in Philadelphia Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023 Natural history museums in Pennsylvania Insectariums Insect museums Holmesburg, Philadelphia Zoos in Pennsylvania Botanical gardens in Pennsylvania Butterfly houses