The Insect and Shell halls permanently closed their doors on 18 April 2017. You can still take a virtual look inside the halls thanks to Google Street View (click on the yellow guy down on the right, then select the third floor in the upper banner). You can also get in with Google Maps (drag the yellow guy onto the Institute, then select the third floor in the column on the right).

The Insect Hall is actually dedicated to all arthropods. As well as insects, it therefore includes crustaceans (such as crabs, prawns, and lobsters), chelicerates (such as spiders, scorpions, and acarines), and myriapods (such as millipedes and centipedes).

Did you know that arthropods make up nearly 80 % of known animal species? And entomologists are discovering new ones every day. There should be a whole museum devoted to them!

In this hall, you can study the anatomy of various different arthropods thanks to the giant reproductions of flies, amphipods, and scorpions. You can also marvel at the camouflage of click beetles, stick insects, and hawk moths, and at the variety of sizes, shapes, and colours of beetles, butterflies, and crabs. The bravest among you can even observe live tarantulas up close!