Victoria Bug Zoo Inc.

631 Courtney ST Victoria BC V8W 1B8

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“Welcome to the amazing world of insects and spiders! A visit to this must-see miniature zoo offers visitors an excellent opportunity to view and experience multi-legged creatures from around the world in a safe, fun and friendly atmosphere. Get up close and personal with LIVE giant walking sticks, alien-eyed praying mantids, stunning tarantulas and glow-in-the-dark scorpions, to name a few. Discover near 50 fascinating species including a wall spanning ant colony. Knowledgeable guides will reveal the exotic secrets of this hidden kingdom and provide a safe animal handling experience for the more adventurous. Imagine holding a tickling millipede that stretches the length of your forearm! Bring your camera. While in Victoria be sure to crawl, fly or wriggle your way to the Bug Zoo!”

Image Gallery

The eyesight of the praying mantis is second to only dragonflies in the insect world, and this mantis is focusing intently on something that caught her attention!
A small slice of the colony showing off the size disparity of all the different sisters in ant colonies.
Notice the small air bubble at the back of the beetles body? They use this to breath underwater for up to 30 minutes!
Jet is our quick and feisty Vietnamese centipede. Her antenna are incredibly sensitive at picking up different chemicals and vibrations, making her an effective predator.
This so called "ant" is actually a wingless female wasp with an incredibly powerful sting. The pain can be completely debilitating for humans! luckily they are not aggressive, and if treated with space and respect they tend to leave us alone!
Despite their morphological similarity to true walking sticks, these are actually grasshoppers! A closer look will also show off a hungry mantis dwelling in the background...
Useful for impressing the ladies and fighting other males for the chance to mate with a female, those large pincers can also be used for defense against predators.

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Destination Greater Victoria is honoured to be based on the traditional territory of the Lekwungen-speaking peoples of the Songhees Nation and the Esquimalt Nation, whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.