The Victoria Bug Zoo is a two-room minizoo that is located in

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

Victoria,

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

, one block north of the Fairmont Empress Hotel. It was sold to Xing Chen in 2014. The Victoria Bug Zoo is run by General Manager Jaymie Chudiak and Outreach Manager Karlee Friesen.

Features

The Bug Zoo exhibits approximately 50 species of

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

arachnid Arachnida () is a class of joint-legged invertebrate animals ( arthropods), in the subphylum Chelicerata. Arachnida includes, among others, spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, camel spiders, whip spiders and ...

s, and other

arthropods Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and cuticle made of chitin, oft ...

, and is currently the largest tropical insect collection in North America. It displays

's largest ant farm that contains

leaf-cutter ants Leafcutter ants, a non-generic name, are any of 47 species of leaf-chewing ants belonging to the two genera ''Atta'' and '' Acromyrmex''. These species of tropical, fungus-growing ants are all endemic to South and Central America, Mexico, ...

. It hosts changing exhibits of various arthropod species, allowing visitors to see and interact with animals they may never encounter in the wild. A main focus of the Victoria Bug Zoo is to help people overcome their fears of insects and arachnids in a safe, engaging and informative environment. Visitors are able to explore the zoo at their own leisure, or follow a guided tour for a hands-on and educational experience. While with a tour guide, visitors can hold and touch a variety of terrestrial arthropods such as

tarantula 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 ...

cockroach Cockroaches (or roaches) are a Paraphyly, 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 we ...

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 endi ...

s, walking sticks,

millipede Millipedes are a group of arthropods that are characterised by having two pairs of jointed legs on most body segments; they are known scientifically as the class Diplopoda, the name derived from this feature. Each double-legged segment is a re ...

s, and some

praying mantis Mantises are an order (Mantodea) of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The largest family is the Mantidae ("mantids"). Mantises are distributed worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats. They hav ...

species.https://www.victoriabugzoo.ca/about

References

External links

* Zoos in British Columbia Tourist attractions in Victoria, British Columbia Culture of Victoria, British Columbia Buildings and structures in Victoria, British Columbia Insectariums {{zoo-stub