Portland Insectarium

Come learn about microscopes! We have preserved specimens, prepared slides, and live microscopic organisms to view. Water bears, springtails, mites, and more! Ages 10+ recommended.

Optional Moo microscope kit contains: one , informational booklet, and a specimen.

New logo and merch coming soon! Thanks to for the design help and printing services 🙌🏼

If you missed Drink and Draw last night, don’t worry, we will be back at next week for our first Bug Trivia Night! Test your knowledge, learn cool bug facts, and win some prizes. Featuring questions from locally made board game Mate by who will also be in attendance! Live bugs on display. $5-$10 sliding scale entry fee per person.

Here are some photos from our Love Bugs drag show photo booth! Thank you to everyone for coming, even if you couldn’t get in because it was full. Thank you for hosting and organizing. Hope to do this again!

April calendar is here!

- we will be closed the 5th-10th but still doing Drink and Draw on the 5th
- tarantula handling sessions are already filling up so grab your spot soon!
- pin a harlequin longhorn beetle in our pinning class on the 12th
- we will be doing our first bug trivia night at on the 14th
- learn how to use microscopes and find tiny bugs in moss and pond water in our microscope workshop on the 25th
- on the 29th we are having our first all ages Drink and Draw at !
- more info about each event on our website www.pdxinsectarium.org

Also a quick note to everyone: we have been very busy lately and while we would love to accommodate everyone who wants to visit, our space is small and we have limited staff. We need to keep the insectarium accessible for people with wheelchairs or other mobility devices and parents with strollers and also stay under maximum capacity due to fire code (there is only one door).
- Reservations are not required most days, but are highly recommended, especially weekends and school breaks.
- Please do not book tickets and show up with extra people because there weren’t enough available, we won’t be able to accommodate you. You can sign up for the waitlist to be notified of openings.
- Please do not arrive early for your appointment, we have to wait for the previous group to leave and we don’t have a waiting room.
- We are working on finding a larger space. Thank you for understanding.

Come to our free youth art show reception! Support young artists and bug lovers! 20% off gift shop during this event, too. Snacks and NA drinks provided. No touchable bus at this event.

Summer camp registration is open! We have two camps for different age groups. 30 June - 03 July is for shes 8-12 and 28 - 31 July is for ages 13-18. Learn the basics of entomology, animal husbandry, identification, field studies, preservation, and more! Sign up at the link in our bio or go to our website www.pdxinsectarium.org/summer-camp

Come to our Youth Art Show next Saturday! We will be open from 5-7pm for FREE! Due to limited space, you must still book a reservation and each reservation is limited to 25 min. The will be no touchable bugs and will be standing room only. This event is to showcase the young artists and get a peek at the insectarium for no charge! Ticket link in bio or at www.pdxinsectarium.org

You can now find in our gift shop! These are beautiful, illustrated, double sided, laser cut, paper specimens of real bugs. Fold them and make them 3D. Put them in a shadow box for a vegan-friendly pinned specimen. Use them in your own creations or just decorate your walls with realistic looking bugs!

We put together these custom sets of some moths/butterflies you may find in Oregon and some bugs you may see at the insectarium.

Here is our schedule for March! As you can see, both tarantula handling sessions are already sold out. If you want to know about our events before everyone else, and before they sell out, I highly recommend signing up for our mailing list (link in bio). There are four spots left in our pinning class on the 7th as of this posting. On the 21st we are having the reception for our youth art show from 5-7pm and it’s FREE! However you must still have a reservation, just click the “book now” button on our website and choose “classes and events”. We will also be open every day during spring break but reservations are required (no walk-ins) for the 23rd-25th.

We are still looking for kid’s art for our art show next month! Deadline is 07 March, find the link to the submission form in our bio.