Minoh Park Insect Museum (Osaka, Japan): (6 March 2025)
Minoh Park is a forest park on the outskirts of Osaka. The name is variably spelled Minoh, Minoo, Mino, or Mino-o. The name of the Insect Museum is also variable - on the building itself it is called the Minoh Park Insects Museum, but Tripadvisor calls it the Mino Park Museum of Insects, while Google and local maps call it the Minoh Park Insectarium.
Entry is only 280 Yen. The building is nicely set out with clean attractive displays, some of which are stand-alone terrariums while others are set into walls. Some examples pictured below.
There is also a walk-through butterfly house, as may be expected.
All species are well signed, including the scientific name and taxonomic categories (Order and Family). There is lots of educational signage throughout the building but I skipped over it because it is all in Japanese. There are also many displays of pinned insects.
(Signage above these tanks shows the collection of the specimens on display)
I don't doubt that the species change regularly, but the following are what were on display on my visit (English names are what I obtained from Google). Photos of many of the species are in the Japan Other gallery - starting at this photo, use the right arrow to go through them: Giant Flower Beetle (Mecynorhina torquata) - ZooChat.
Lepidoptera - butterflies and moths
Paper Kite (Idea leuconoe)
Blue Glassy Tiger (Ideopsis similis)
Common Tiger (Salatura (Danaus) genutia)
Striped Blue Crow(Euploea mulciber)
Common Mormon (Papilio polytes)
Great Mormon (Papilio memnon)
Spangle (Papilio protenor)
Chinese Windmill (Byasa alcinous)
Common Eggfly (Hypolimnas bolina)
Indian Oakleaf (Kallima inachus)
Angled Castor (Ariadne ariadne)
Rustic (Cupha erymanthis)
Common Palmfly (Elymnias hypermnestra)
Great Orange-tip (Hebomoia glaucippe)
Psyche (Leptosia nina)
Noctuid moth (Asota plana)
Sphinx Moth (Daphnis nerii)
Zygaenid moth (Eterusia aedea) (caterpillars only)
Hemiptera - true bugs
Mangrove Jewel Bug (Calliphara nobilis)
Giant Water Strider (Aquarius elongatus)
Water Stick-Insect (Ranatra chinensis)
Giant Water Bug Lethocerus deyrollei)
Giant Water Bug Appasus major)
Coleoptera - beetles
Diving Beetle (Cybister rugosus)
Diving Beetle (Cybister tripunctatus)
Okinawa Whirligig Beetle (Dineutus mellyi insularis)
Firefly (larva) (Pyrocoelia atripennis)
Rainbow Stag Beetle (Phalacrognathus muelleri)
Amami Stag Beetle (Dorcus metacostatus)
Sumatran Stag Beetle (Dorcus titanus yasuoki)
Hercules Beetle (Dynastes hercules)
Flores Rhinoceros Beetle (Xylotrupes florensis)
Giant Flower Beetle (Mecynorhina torquata)
Japanese Dung Beetle (Phelotrupes auratus ruri)
Japanese Tiger Beetle (Sophiodela japonica)
Black Weevil (Pachyrhynchus infernalis)
Mantodea - mantids
Dead-Leaf Mantis (Deroplatys lobata)
Giant Asian Mantis (Hierodula patellifera
Mantis (Prohierodula picta)
Mantis (Tenodera fasciata)
Phasmatodea - stick insects
Pink-winged Stick Insect (Siplyloidea sipylus)
Stick Insect (Datames mouhoti)
Stick Insect (Entoria ishigakiensis)
Stick Insect (Megacrania tsudai)
Orthoptera - grasshoppers and crickets
Iriomote Grasshopper (Traulia ishigakiensis iriomotensis)
Taiwan Bush Cricket (Mecopoda elongata)
Iriomote Cave Cricket (Diestrammena iriomotensis)
Yaeyama Field Cricket (Duolandrevus guntheri)
Bell Cricket (Homoeogryllus japonicus)
Blattodea - cockroaches
Vibrant Hissing Cockroach (Princisia vanwaerebeki)
Rhinoceros Cockroach (Macropanesthia rhinoceros)
Yaeyama Cockroach (Rhabdoblatta yayeyamana)
Question Mark Cockroach (Therea olegrandjeani)
Hymenoptera - wasps and ants
Ant sp. (unlabeled with name)
Araneae - spiders
Water Spider - no scientific name given on the tank, but presumably Argyroneta aquatica). Surprisingly this was the only spider on display here.
Uropygi - whip scorpions
Taiwan Whip Scorpion (Typopeltis crucifer)
Stylommatophora - snails
Shining Snail (Leptopoma nitidum)
Minoh Park is a forest park on the outskirts of Osaka. The name is variably spelled Minoh, Minoo, Mino, or Mino-o. The name of the Insect Museum is also variable - on the building itself it is called the Minoh Park Insects Museum, but Tripadvisor calls it the Mino Park Museum of Insects, while Google and local maps call it the Minoh Park Insectarium.
Entry is only 280 Yen. The building is nicely set out with clean attractive displays, some of which are stand-alone terrariums while others are set into walls. Some examples pictured below.
There is also a walk-through butterfly house, as may be expected.
All species are well signed, including the scientific name and taxonomic categories (Order and Family). There is lots of educational signage throughout the building but I skipped over it because it is all in Japanese. There are also many displays of pinned insects.
(Signage above these tanks shows the collection of the specimens on display)
I don't doubt that the species change regularly, but the following are what were on display on my visit (English names are what I obtained from Google). Photos of many of the species are in the Japan Other gallery - starting at this photo, use the right arrow to go through them: Giant Flower Beetle (Mecynorhina torquata) - ZooChat.
Lepidoptera - butterflies and moths
Paper Kite (Idea leuconoe)
Blue Glassy Tiger (Ideopsis similis)
Common Tiger (Salatura (Danaus) genutia)
Striped Blue Crow(Euploea mulciber)
Common Mormon (Papilio polytes)
Great Mormon (Papilio memnon)
Spangle (Papilio protenor)
Chinese Windmill (Byasa alcinous)
Common Eggfly (Hypolimnas bolina)
Indian Oakleaf (Kallima inachus)
Angled Castor (Ariadne ariadne)
Rustic (Cupha erymanthis)
Common Palmfly (Elymnias hypermnestra)
Great Orange-tip (Hebomoia glaucippe)
Psyche (Leptosia nina)
Noctuid moth (Asota plana)
Sphinx Moth (Daphnis nerii)
Zygaenid moth (Eterusia aedea) (caterpillars only)
Hemiptera - true bugs
Mangrove Jewel Bug (Calliphara nobilis)
Giant Water Strider (Aquarius elongatus)
Water Stick-Insect (Ranatra chinensis)
Giant Water Bug Lethocerus deyrollei)
Giant Water Bug Appasus major)
Coleoptera - beetles
Diving Beetle (Cybister rugosus)
Diving Beetle (Cybister tripunctatus)
Okinawa Whirligig Beetle (Dineutus mellyi insularis)
Firefly (larva) (Pyrocoelia atripennis)
Rainbow Stag Beetle (Phalacrognathus muelleri)
Amami Stag Beetle (Dorcus metacostatus)
Sumatran Stag Beetle (Dorcus titanus yasuoki)
Hercules Beetle (Dynastes hercules)
Flores Rhinoceros Beetle (Xylotrupes florensis)
Giant Flower Beetle (Mecynorhina torquata)
Japanese Dung Beetle (Phelotrupes auratus ruri)
Japanese Tiger Beetle (Sophiodela japonica)
Black Weevil (Pachyrhynchus infernalis)
Mantodea - mantids
Dead-Leaf Mantis (Deroplatys lobata)
Giant Asian Mantis (Hierodula patellifera
Mantis (Prohierodula picta)
Mantis (Tenodera fasciata)
Phasmatodea - stick insects
Pink-winged Stick Insect (Siplyloidea sipylus)
Stick Insect (Datames mouhoti)
Stick Insect (Entoria ishigakiensis)
Stick Insect (Megacrania tsudai)
Orthoptera - grasshoppers and crickets
Iriomote Grasshopper (Traulia ishigakiensis iriomotensis)
Taiwan Bush Cricket (Mecopoda elongata)
Iriomote Cave Cricket (Diestrammena iriomotensis)
Yaeyama Field Cricket (Duolandrevus guntheri)
Bell Cricket (Homoeogryllus japonicus)
Blattodea - cockroaches
Vibrant Hissing Cockroach (Princisia vanwaerebeki)
Rhinoceros Cockroach (Macropanesthia rhinoceros)
Yaeyama Cockroach (Rhabdoblatta yayeyamana)
Question Mark Cockroach (Therea olegrandjeani)
Hymenoptera - wasps and ants
Ant sp. (unlabeled with name)
Araneae - spiders
Water Spider - no scientific name given on the tank, but presumably Argyroneta aquatica). Surprisingly this was the only spider on display here.
Uropygi - whip scorpions
Taiwan Whip Scorpion (Typopeltis crucifer)
Stylommatophora - snails
Shining Snail (Leptopoma nitidum)
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