Extinct and Endangered: Insects in Peril
Insects are misunderstood but a new macro photography exhibition at AMNH hopes to change that. Photographer Levon Biss has photographed 40 endangered species (selected from specimens in the Museum’s world-class research collection), which will be shown as large-format photographs as large as 4.5 by 8 feet in the Akeley Gallery and the adjacent East Galleria. Some of the extinct and endangered specimens are more than 100 years old but are almost brought back to life through the photos that show their extreme detail and intricate features, including the well-known monarch butterfly and the nine-spotted ladybug to the remote Lord Howe Island stick insect of Australia (thought to be extinct for most of the 20th century until a tiny population was discovered and bred in captivity starting in 2003.) Each photograph in Extinct and Endangered took about three weeks to create from up to 10,000 individual images shot using special lenses. “We are delighted to showcase Levon Biss’s breathtaking photographs to engage, inspire, and educate our visitors about the critical need to conserve these glorious and diverse animals which, though small, are essential to Earth’s complex ecosystems,” said Ellen V. Futter, President of the American Museum of Natural History. “We look forward to further educating about insects when we open the spectacular Solomon Family Insectarium next year as part of the Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation, which will also feature Biss’s stunning pho