ABQ Biopark BUGarium Bugarium: List of Species On Exhibit 3/9/18

geomorph · 17 Mar 2018

This is an attempt to list every species on exhibit in the Bugarium at the ABQ Biopark's Botanic Garden in Albuquerque, New Mexico during my visit on 3-9-18. I am including species for which there is a sign on each exhibit, and arranging the list by my own named zones according to the order in which they are encountered along the visitor path.

LOWER ROOM: (19 Exhibits)
Most of the Bugarium is housed in a bright large room with a high ceiling; the part of the room after entering is a lower level while the second half is a raised level reached by a visitor ramp.

3 shelf-style aquatic tanks adjacent to windows that look out on the pond outside the building:
Water Strider (empty, under renovation)
Predacious Diving Beetle and Whirly-gig Beetle
Ferocious Water Bug

6 wall aquatic tanks, titled "Down In The Aquatic Realm",containing 1 species each:
Backswimmer
Freshwater Leech
Giant Water Bug
Malaysian Water Scorpion
Mottled Diving Beetle
Sunburst Diving Beetle

6 terrariums set in a desert landscape display titled "New Mexico's Chihuahuan Desert":
Arizona Bark Scorpion
Arizona Blonde Tarantula
Blue Death-feigning Beetle, Desert Millipede, Desert Skink Beetle, Litle Red Velvet Ant,
Red-backed Beetle, Velvet Ant (open-topped exhibit, confusing signage: are all 6 of those
together in one exhibit?)
Desert Hairy Scorpion and South Texas Giant Tiger Beetle
Giant Vinegaroon
Honeypot Ant

2 pedestal terrariums, containing 1 species each:
Celebes Leaf Insect
Jungle Nymph Stick Insect

Large tall octagonal terrarium viewed from both lower and upper levels:
Black Beauty Stick Insect
Giant Malaysian Stick Insect
Giant Spiny Stick Insect
Malaysian Stick Insect
Prickly Stick Insect

Central tree surrounded by small water moat, with vine attached hung from ceiling to travel the length of the room to enclosed tubes in the upper room that lead to a labyrinth of about 12 small-domed terrariums on pedestals interspersed with about 15 similar small-domed terrariums containing Naked Mole Rat:
Leafcutter Ant

UPPER ROOM: (35 Exhibits)
The floor of this half of the large room is about 3 feet higher, reached by a visitor ramp.

A labyrinth of about 15 small-domed terrariums connected by enclosed tubes and set on pedestals, interspersed with about 12 similar small-domed terrariums containing Leafcutter Ant:
Naked Mole Rat

Large-sized wall display with multiple chambers connected to outside:
Honey Bee

Small-sized terrarium within Honey Bee exhibit:
Paper Wasp

Large-sized pedestal terrarium with visitor crawl-through tunnel and pop-up viewing dome, called "Crawlosseum":
Madagascar Hissing Cockroach and Pill Woodlouse

28 wall terrariums, containing 1 species each:
African Twig Mantis
Antilles Pink Toe Tarantula
Black and Yellow Flower Beetle
Brazilion Salmon Pink Birdeater
Brazilian White Knee Tarantula
Bud-wing Mantis
Dead Leaf Mantis
Flamboyant Flower Beetle
Frog-legged Beetle
Ghost Mantis
Giant Asian Mantis
Giant Dead-leaf Mantis
Giraffe Stag Beetle
Gooty Ornamental Tarantula
Green Bottle Blue Tarantula
Hercules Beetle
Huntsman Spider
Mexican Red Knee Tarantula
Mexican Red Legged Tarantula
Mexican Red-rump Tarantula
Okefenokee Fishing Spider
Orchid Mantis
Pebble Mantis
Pink Leg Millipede
Polyphemus Beetle
Two-spotted Assasin Bug
Western Black Widow Spider
Yellow Stag Beetle

3 pedestal terrariums, containing 1 species each:
Cuban Night Anole
Indian Ornamental Tarantula
Pacific Dampwood Termite

NIGHT IN THE JUNGLE: (12 Exhibits)
This darkened passageway is set in a room adjacent to the upper room and decorated with simulated tropical trunks and deadfalls and mudbanks; the exhibits are lit with infrared lights.

12 terrariums, containing 1 species each:
Annam Stick Insect
Atlas Beetle
Brown Bush Katydid
Dragon Headed Katydid
Flat Rock Scorpion
Giant African Millipede
Giant Forest Scorpion
Giant Peppered Cockroach
Goliath Birdeater Tarantula
Indian Ornamental Tarantula
Spiny Stick Insect
Tanzanian Tail-less Whip Scorpion

EXTERIOR EXHIBIT AREA: (1 Exhibit)

Large-sized screened-in room attached to building:
Common Chuckwalla

NOTE:
Normally, nearby in the Botanic Garden is a large walk-through open-air structure for a seasonal butterfly exhibit but it is closed for major renovation currently.

SUMMARY:

By my count, the total number of exhibits currently at the ABQ Biopark Botanic Garden's Bugarium is: 67
By my count, the total number of species in permanent exhibits with identification signs is: 78
The number of species I counted can be broken down into the following categories:
Mammals: 1
Birds: 0
Reptiles: 2
Amphibians: 0
Fish: 0
Invertebrates: 75

Chlidonias · 17 Mar 2018

This sounds great. Are there any photos in the galleries yet?

geomorph · 17 Mar 2018

Chlidonias, not yet, I will be posting them eventually though!

snowleopard · 18 Mar 2018

Thanks very much for posting the various lists. With 67 exhibits it sounds as if the newly constructed (2016) 'Bugarium' is a must-see!

TZDugong · 18 Mar 2018

Thanks for the list! Is this attraction popular? How’s the quality of exhibitry?

geomorph · 18 Mar 2018

TZDugong said:
Thanks for the list! Is this attraction popular? How’s the quality of exhibitry?

I visited on a weekday and it was very popular, I had to wait to take a lot of the pictures I took without people in the way. The quality of exhibits is excellent and most of them are built-ins rather than moveable standard terrariums; the interior landscapes of the exhibits are detailed and naturalistic. This attraction is the second best arthropod facility I have seen, I still think Cincinnati's is superior from my memory of it.

geomorph · 10 Apr 2018

I should have posted the pictures in the gallery first and then used a selection of them to illustrate this list. I'll try to do it with copying selections from the original post: