Australian Reptile Park Invertebrates

J

Jarkari

Well-Known Member
Hey,
As far as I know the Aust Reptile park is the only zoo in the country that has an invertebrate display and this is pretty much just spiders. Has anyone been there? Just wondering what you would all think of an invertebrate display, we have an amazing array of insects and arachnids here that i think are fascinating and great to interact with. What do you all think?
 
I love seeing invertebrates. In the UK Bristol have about the best selection on view, followed by London. There are also numerous butterfly farms which also show scorpions, spiders and other insects. I went to the one at Stratford in June. I'm hopeless with identifying butterflies. Most of the ones I photographed look nothing like the ones in the leaflet. Invertebrate exhibits seem to be popular weith the public, even if it's only a few common giant snail species and colourful beetles. Giant millipedes always seem popular, too.

Two weeks ago I went to London Zoo and one of their keepers was showing off a huge owl butterfly (I think) caterpillar. Visitors were really interested in what she had to say about the life cycle of butterflies and moths.
 
bongorob said:
I love seeing invertebrates. In the UK Bristol have about the best selection on view, followed by London. There are also numerous butterfly farms which also show scorpions, spiders and other insects. I went to the one at Stratford in June. I'm hopeless with identifying butterflies. Most of the ones I photographed look nothing like the ones in the leaflet. Invertebrate exhibits seem to be popular weith the public, even if it's only a few common giant snail species and colourful beetles. Giant millipedes always seem popular, too.

Two weeks ago I went to London Zoo and one of their keepers was showing off a huge owl butterfly (I think) caterpillar. Visitors were really interested in what she had to say about the life cycle of butterflies and moths.
Click to expand...

I must agree. I've always thought Bristol's collection of invertebrates is really good. One of my favourite exhibits was their ants exhibit- lots of ant exhibits have something really elaborate made of ropes and branches and plastic tubes but theirs is just a really nice realistic forest floor scene swarming with ants.
 
Jarkari said:
Hey,
As far as I know the Aust Reptile park is the only zoo in the country that has an invertebrate display and this is pretty much just spiders.
Click to expand...

AH HEM!! excuse me but have you forgotten about my dear old melbourne zoo, who back in the 80's succceded in making invetebrates one of their biggest attractions?......the butterfly house!!!!

a few years ago it was refurbed into the "world of bugs and butterflies" and other invertebrate exhibits were added after exiting the butterfly glasshouse. all natives, but there are giant burrowing cockroaches, stick insects, spiders, mantids, giant grasshoppers and lots and lots of hatching butterfly cocoons and caterpillers....

there are more insects in the "elephant forest research station".

the butterflies is still a great exhibit and very popular. its now incorperated into the elephant village.

HOWEVER,

probably the biggest and best live insect collection in australia is at melbourne museum who have a permanent "bugs alive" hall that features just about every kind of native invertebrate you can think of. as well as plenty of amzing wall displays of preserved specimens from around the globe. it also features australias biggest collection of live exotic tarantulas, all confiscated after being smuggled in for the pet trade. there are just six or so species on display but apparently the museum has hundereds of other live exotic spiders. just look on isis...
 
I love invertebrate exhibits. Bugs always look so alien and out of this world. There is a decent invertebrate display at Singapore Zoo, with hissing cockroaches, tarantulas, scorpions, stick insects, beetles etc, but from personal experience, many visitors don't bother with them and will often walk right past without looking at the displays.
 
don't forget that Singapore also has the "Butterfly Park and Insect Kingdom" on Sentosa Island, although I did feel very sorry for the big beetles condemned to what would appear to be a very short life stuffed into very small containers :-(
 
invertabraes

Auckland Zoo houses Mexican Tarantulas .
I have asked them why they do not house katipo , which is NZs only venomous spider . From what I read , it is similar to the redback . But the katipo is not easily spotted . I havent seen one .
The zoos response was that they need permission from Dept of Conservation to house katipo !

I have visted Melbourne Zoos butterfly house -- I enjoyed very much
 
we have katipo in Southern Encounter Aquarium in Christchurch. To find them in the wild isn't hard, just look in driftwood and among the dune grasses on the beaches (they aren't found away from the coast)
 
Invertebrate display

Hey guys, this ones just for the Aussie's and probably just those within driving disatnce. At this years Australian National Field Days in October there will be a display of invertebrates. entry to it is on top of the field day admission but is really cheap @ $2 per person or four including a photo of you with one of the animals. I'm about to find out what species will be there on display and I'll post it on here.
 
taronga zoo has plenty of invertebrates on display in backyard to bush. even the sydney wildlife world has a decent whack of invertebrte exhibits
 
yes yes they do... my bad... ah well... there is nothing for us folk west of the great divide in NSW anyway
 
Otago Museum is set to open its new tropical house soon, home to (according to the tv news) 1000 butterflies of 60 species
 
i think sww should be a base for every other zoo to create a native vert exhibit- tarongas in b2b is quite pointless, but sww is fantatstic!
 
There is an insectarium in Montreal, Canada that receives over 400,000 visitors per year, and it is right across the street from the Biodome. They have a mix of living and dead invertebrates.
 
There are several more invert exhibits in North America

Butteryfly World - Ft Lauderdale, FL
Central Florida Zoo
National Zoo - Washington, DC
Cincinnati Zoo
Oregon Zoo
Audubon Insectarium - New Orleans, LA (opening this year)
Saint Louis Zoo
San Diego Wild Animal Park
Woodland Park Zoo
Heritage Park Zoo
San Francisco Zoo

and many American Reptile Houses and Aquariums hold several Invert enclosures.
 
I hate melbournes butterfly house but i love all the insect displays. The butterfly house is a combination of too small, too crowded and too hot.
 
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