• insect zoo

Fees

WE ARE BOOKED FOR JUNE, JULY, AND AUGUST 2024 

Summer 2024 program information! (only June-August)

Back by popular demand!!! 

Love our Earth, Love our Bugs:

($250 plus mileage) 1-hour display (No limit on participants). 2-hours for $400

Invite your whole town to check out over 100 species of living arthropods, on display in your own space! Knowledgeable Insect Zoo staff will talk about why our multi-legged friends are important for a healthy Earth, how you can help them in your own outdoor spaces, and how you can Spread the Bug Love! Many hands-on opportunities to handle millipedes, beetles, walking sticks and more! Bring in your photos of bugs to be identified or even the bug itself!

The Insect Zoo can visit up to 3 locations in one day! Those locations near each other, who share a day, will split the total mileage.

***Donate to the Insect Zoo***

www.foundation.iastate.edu/insectzoo

The Insect Zoo charges the following fees for our programs and displays



School programs are $125.00 per 1-hour session. (Limit of 30 participants per program)


Non-school programs are $150.00 per 1-hour session. (Limit of 30 participants per program)


Large Group programs are $250.00 per 1-hour session. (Unlimited participants) Only available weekends and summer.


Please fill out a request form for a precise quote. Quotes will not be given via email or phone.

Please note that our geographic range is limited to the state of Iowa.


Community Outreach

Transcript or Alternate URL: 

.

Announcing our 2024, Love our Bugs, Love our Earth summer schedule!

82 locations in 64 days!

Catch us if you can!!

5/30 10 am – 12 pm Display, Knoxville Library

6/1 3:00- 5 pm Display Scandinavian Days, Nevada, IA.

6/3 5-7 pm Display Osage Public Library

6/4 10-11 am Display Coon Rapids Library

6/4 2-3 pm Display Carroll Library

6/5 10:30-11:30 am Display, Montgomery Library, Jewell, IA

6/5 5:30-6:30 pm Display, Independence Library

6/6 2-3 pm Display, Cherokee Library

6/8 10:30 am- 12:30 pm Display, Drake Public Library, Centerville, IA

6/9 10 am-3 pm Display Farmington Festival, Farmington, IA

6/10 10 am-12 pm Display Newton Library, Newton, IA

6/10 6-7 pm Display, Bondurant Library

6/11 10-11 am Display, Dunlap Library

6/11 2-3 pm Display, Onawa Library

6/12 10-11 am Display, Humboldt Library

6/12 2-3 Display, Ames Library (Teen program)

6/13 10:30-11:30 am Display, Wellman Library

6/13 2-3 pm Display, Wilton Library

6/13 6-7 pm Display, West Liberty Library

6/14 10:30 am-1:30 pm Display, Arnolds Park Library

6/15 10:30-11:30 am Display, Waterloo Library

6/17 10-11 am Display Madrid Library

6/17 1-3 Private Preschool Event

6/18 10-11 am Display, Sargent Bluff Library

6/18 6:30-7:30 pm Display, Orange City Library

6/19 10 am-12 pm Display, Pella Library      

6/20 10:30-11:30 am Display, Malvern Library

6/20 1-2 pm Display, Glenwood Library

6/21 10-11 am Display, Dallas Center Library

6/21 1:30-2:30 Private youth club

6/22 10 am-2 pm Display, Pollinator Fest, Reiman Gardens, Ames

6/24 10-11 am Display, Keokuk Library

6/24 1-2 pm Display, Montrose Library

6/25 10-11 am Display, Fort Madison Library

6/25 1-2 pm Display, Donnellson Library

6/25 4-5 pm Display, West Point Library

6/26 10-11 am Display, Beaman Library

6/26 12:30-1:30 pm Display, Pioneer Heritage Library, Le Grand, IA

6/27 10-11 am Display, Ericson Library, Boone, IA

6/27 1-3 pm, Private summer school

6/28 1-2 pm Display, Williamsburg Library

6/29 10 am-12 pm Display, Lake Red Rock Visitor Center, Knoxville, IA

7/1 10 am-12 pm Display, Cedar Rapids Main Branch (450 5th Ave)

7/1 2-3 pm Display, Cedar Rapids Branch Library (3750 Williams Blvd. SW)

7/2 1:30-3:30 pm Display, Norwalk Easter Library

7/3-7/7 HOLIDAY BREAK-No programs

7/8 1:30-3:30 pm Display, Hiawatha Library

7/9 1-2 pm Display Stubbs Library, Holstein, IA

7/10 10:30-11:30 am Display, Dows Library

7/10 6:30-7:30 pm Display, Nashua Library

7/11 10-11 am Display Bondurant Library

7/11 1:30-2:30 Display Leonard Good Library, Odgen, IA

7/11 2:30-3:30 ISU Alumni Legacy Camp (Registration required)

7/12 10-11 am Display, De Soto Library

7/12 1-2 pm Display, Van Meter Library

7/13 12-2 pm Display, Baxter Fun Days

7/15 6-7 pm Display, Auburn Library

7/16 10 am-12 pm Display Fort Dodge Library

7/17 2:30-3:30 pm Display Moravia Library

7/17 5-6 pm Display, Carnegie-Evans Library, Albia, IA

7/18 10 am-12 pm Display, Sumner Library

7/18 3-4 pm Display, Decorah Library

7/19 10 am-12 pm Display, Carnegie Stout Library, Dubuque, IA

7/20 10 am-12 pm Display, Burlington Library

7/22 10-11 am Private summer camp

7/22 1-3 pm Display, Ankeny Library

7/23 10-11 am Display, Center Point Library

7/23 1-2 pm Display, Vinton Library

7/23 5-6 pm Display, Blairstown Library

7/24 1-2 pm Display, Sac City Library

7/25 10-11 am Display, Polk City Library

7/25 1-2 pm Display, Albion Library

7/26 10-11 am Display, Lake Mills Library

7/26 1-2 pm Display, Kinney Memorial Library, Hanlontown, IA

7/25 3:30-4:30 pm Joice Library

7/29 10:30-11:30 am Display, Aplington Library

7/30 10-11 am Display, Kalona Library

7/30 2-3 pm Display, Washington Library

7/31 all day private preschools

8/1 all day private preschools

8/2 all day YMCA Summer camps

Join the Iowa State University Insect Zoo as we showcase over 100 living arthropods. From beetles to roaches, tarantulas, and scorpions, come get up close and personal with some very important animals! Insects and other arthropods are vital for our environment. Insects are decomposers, recycling nutrients back into the earth. They filter water and are a sign of stream health. Many arthropods help to distribute seeds of trees and plants and aerate the soil. Insects are also important pollinators, pollinating 1 out of every 3 bites of food you take!

 

Come spend some time exploring the bumpy exoskeleton of the death feigning beetles, feel the light touch of a walking stick on your arm, hear the hissing cockroach and touch the soft and fuzzy Rosie the tarantula.

 

The Insect Zoo is a traveling outreach program through the ISU Entomology Department that was started in 1995. As we travel around Iowa Spreading the Bug Love, we visit over 38,000 Iowa kids each year. Our hands-on approach helps people see the delicate importance of these misunderstood animals. We aim to educate all humans on the diverse group of Arthropods: insects, spiders, tarantulas, scorpions, millipedes, centipedes, shrimp, crabs, and lobsters.

 

You can visit the Insect Zoo’s website to request us to visit your school, daycare, fair, farmer’s market or even a birthday party! Zoo.ent.iastate.edu

You can even set up a family visit for a behind the scenes tour of our animal rooms!

Teacher Resources

Use this vocab sheet to learn about the Honeypot Ants!

After learning the Honeypot Ant vocab words, use this word find as a fun way to reinforce those words!

There is also an answer key.

You can print these fun coloring sheets for your learners!