BugzUK Parc - new invertebrate zoo in Norfolk

I have just noticed that there is an Instagram page outlining the progress of the new invertebrate zoo - there seems to have been a lot of progress within the past few weeks particularly, with the first phase of building involving a cafe, a shop, the entrance/visitor centre building (with four display areas) and the main display area that will have seven separate exhibit rooms housing around eighty species of invertebrate altogether.

The page can be seen here (it is on Instagram under the same tag - @bugzukparc, but I cannot really access there):
@bugzukparc Instagram profile with posts and stories - Picuki.com
 
The most instagram recent post about progress on the park says the site will be opening in April 2022. They are also now outfitting the first public display. They are starting with a room dedicated to cockroaches and have moved the first species into their enclosure - a colony of domino cockroach Therea petiveriana.
 
Another update - the park is continuing to develop, with animal displays now being moved into place (the leaf-cutting ant colony for example). The cafe is due to open in ate March, with the remainder of the site still on track to open in April.

Information comes from the park's Instagram page (the same link as the post at the top of the page).
 
As well as news that the cafe in the park will be opening on 1st April, the park's Instagram page has also included a clip showing the tarantula housing. When the park opens, it will have 43 tarantulas on-show in bespoke enclosures.

The footage of the tarantula housing is included in the link below:
Added by @bugzukparc Instagram post New bespoke vivs have arrived for the spider room made by custom aquaria to my design, thanks Matthew… now filling them up with residents which is the fun bit !!! Will have 43 tarantulas on show when we open. For those of a an arachnophobic disposition , you will be glad to know you can bypass the spider room in the one way system if you so wish !!! #tarantulas #tarantulasofinstagram #spiders #arachnids #arachnidsofinstagram #spidersofinstagram - Picuki.com
 
Another update on the park's progress from their Instagram page - they plan to open the park on Saturday 28th May and will open their website for bookings on Monday 16th May.
 
The website for the park has now gone live and includes a description of the three houses that will be visible at the time of opening - each house is named after a famous entomologist and will collectively house around 200 species of invertebrate:

Kirby House (4 zones)
1. An introduction to invertebrates describing what invertebrates are and basic invertebrate classifications
2. A reverse day and night zone showing animals active at night
3. Scorpions, amblypygids, vinegaroons and centipedes
4. A museum of pinned butterflies

Hinton House (7 zones)
1. Grasshoppers, katydids and crickets
2. Praying mantis
3. Cockroaches, assassin bugs, leeches and giant water bugs
4. Snails and crabs
5. A shell and coral museum
6/7. Spiders and tarantulas

Comstock House (4 zones)
1. Millipedes, polydesmids and isopods
2. Stick insects
3. Leaf-cutting ants
4. Beetles

There are also future plans for up to thirteen more visitor centres housing different orders of invertebrates, a tropical butterfly house and a netted walkthrough enclosure for British butterflies.

The information about the zones comes from the link here:
Our Invertebrates

The main website, which includes lots of other information about the park, can be found here:
BugzUK Parc
 
I went down for a visit today. The place looks fantastic and finished to a very high standard.

You enter and exit through the giftshop and then you have access to the three houses, plus a bug handling experience and a very nice and reasonably priced cafe. Each house is partioned into zones as described above. Enclosures are mainly exo-terra with some banks of custom enclosures.

You can take also home any invertebrates that are listed for sale on the BugzUk webshop. Well worth a visit, I have some photos to post when I het a moment
 
For anyone who has been, are there any species of particular note, ones that are somewhat unusual or rare for a zoo collection? I get that many of the species will probably be ones readily available (and I'm not expecting anyone to provide a full species list), but I'm still curious.
 
CrashMegaraptor said:
For anyone who has been, are there any species of particular note, ones that are somewhat unusual or rare for a zoo collection? I get that many of the species will probably be ones readily available (and I'm not expecting anyone to provide a full species list), but I'm still curious.
Click to expand...

Not been yet myself, but I have noticed that yesterday on their Instagram page they announced they were holding American red-eyed katydids (no scientific name is given on the post, but it looks like Neobarrettia spinosa), something I certainly haven't heard of being kept in a zoo before. They have already been seen egg-laying as well, so hopefully there will be nymphs in about nine months time.

They can be seen in this link:
https://www.picuki.com/media/2894577293319182784
 
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I like the design which actually focuses on animals, not like many zoos on everything else - theming, murals, blabla.

Who can give a list of less common invertebrates on display?
 
Another rather unusual invertebrate that they house, in the nocturnal section, is a species of net-casting spider Deinopis - according to their Instagram page.
 
Great collection of inverts but alas, the plain tanks in the portacabins/huts kinda reminds me of a university's zoology department in their science block. Though I'd still visit
 
In a post on their Instagram page commemorating the late entomologist Justin Schmidt (who passed away on February 18th 2023), most famous for allowing himself to be stung by insects and creating a scale to rank how painful each species is, the BugzUK Parc have announced that this summer they are planning on bringing in a colony of bullet ants, one of the most painful stinging species.

Information comes from the post included here:
https://www.picuki.com/media/3044448079732245069
 
Over the past couple of weeks, BugzUKParc have announced the births of several interesting species of invertebrate:

Guadeloupe Island giant katydid, Nesonotus reticulatus
Striped flat millipede, Coromus vittatus (about 100 babies now in the on-show tank)
Mozambique fire millipede, Centrobolus anulatus

A couple of species have also been recorded mating for the first time at the park:

Nigerian dragon-head cricket, Cosmoderus femoralis
Tiger bromeliad spider, Cupiennius salei

Information all comes from the park's Instagram page:
https://www.picuki.com/profile/bugzukparc
 
On a recent post on their Instagram page, the park (which has actually renamed itself from BugzUKParc to The Bug Parc) have announced several more invertebrate births, including:

African giant centipede, Ethmostigmus trigonopodus
Asian forest scorpion, Heterometrus longimanus
African snail, Pseudachatina connectens
Brazilian salmon pink tarantula, Lasiodora parahybana

Images of the four successfully bred species can be seen in the link below:
https://www.picuki.com/media/3147591863724568782
 
Two species of jumping spider have now arrived at The Bug Parc - the regal jumping spider Phidippus regius and the Texas jumping spider Phidippus texanus.

Information comes from The Bug Parc's Facebook page.
 
The Bug Parc have announced the arrival and successful breeding of a new species of Cameroonian assassin bug, Acanthaspis bilineolata. They are currently being kept behind the scenes but it is hoped they will go on-display soon. I must say that it is nice to hear they are keeping assassin bugs that aren't the more ubiquitous Platymeris or Psytalla species.

Information comes from the park's Facebook page.
 
The Bug Parc has announced the recent successful breeding of the Brazilian red-and-white tarantula, Nhandu chromatus.

Information comes from the park's Facebook page.
 
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