Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Taktsang Lhakhang, also known as the “Tiger’s Nest”.
Bhutan • 11 days, 10 nights
Festivals & Temples of Bhutan
from
Macchu Picchu
Peru • 10 days, 9 nights
Peru: Machu Picchu & the Last Incan Bridges
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
The ‘Old Secretariat’ government building in New Delhi.
The 'Old Secretariat'
This set is inspired by a Roman arena.
Bozdağ Film Platolari
The Sea Water Distilling Plant.
Sea Water Distilling Plant
Contemplative paths.
Ayo Rock Formations
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
The sign declares this the number-one gumbo shop in town.
Gumbo Hut Shioya
The pavlova comes crowned with jewel-like fruit.
Central Park Boathouse
The Village Tavern of Long Grove - exterior.
The Village Tavern
Hunter House Hamburgers
L’Escamoteur
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
The truth is out there—somewhere.
The Truth Is Out There at the Dreamland Resort (or Should We Say ‘Area 51?’)
19 days ago
Edward Payson Weston
How the 6-Day Race Became an American Spectator Obsession
20 days ago
Alresford Spy Toilet
This Public Bathroom in a Sleepy English Village Was an Epicenter for Cold War Espionage
22 days ago
Manhattan Well
The Manhattan Well: How Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton United to Solve a Murder Mystery
23 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States Pennsylvania Philadelphia Philadelphia Insectarium and Butterfly Pavilion
Philadelphia Insectarium and Butterfly Pavilion is permanently closed.

This entry remains in the Atlas as a record of its history, but it is no longer accessible to visitors.

Philadelphia Insectarium and Butterfly Pavilion

This Philly landmark has a giant butterfly pavilion, three floors of insect displays, and withstood a $40,000 heist.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Added By
Jordan St. Stier
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
A butterfly drinking from a leaf inside the Pavilion.   mdieva / Atlas Obscura User
A butterfly drinking from a leaf inside the Pavilion.   mdieva / Atlas Obscura User
Butterfly pavillion, 2022   carstelvizsla / Atlas Obscura User
Third floor, 2022   carstelvizsla / Atlas Obscura User
Front of building, 2022   carstelvizsla / Atlas Obscura User
Murals decorate many of the Insectarium’s walls.   mdieva / Atlas Obscura User
Chrysalis Chamber, inside the Butterfly Pavillion.   mdieva / Atlas Obscura User
Mural at the Insectarium.   Insectarium and Butterfly Pavilion/cc by-sa 4.0
Botanical garden construction, 2017.   Insectarium and Butterfly Pavilion/cc by-sa 4.0
Insect displays.   Jim, the Photographer/cc by 2.0
Insect displays.   Jim, the Photographer/cc by 2.0
Insect displays.   Jim, the Photographer/cc by 2.0
Butterfly at the Butterfly Pavillion.   R'lyeh Imaging/cc by 2.0
Exterior of the Insectarium.   Jllm06/public domain
Murals decorate many of the Insectarium’s walls.   mdieva / Atlas Obscura User
  mdieva / Atlas Obscura User
Entering the 2nd floor room, 2022   carstelvizsla / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

The Insectarium and Butterfly Pavilion permanently closed. Its managers had not paid the mortgage for years, which led to a debt of close to a million dollars. A court ruled against the museum, and the Philadelphia sheriff evicted them on May 30, 2023. On the way out, the managers destroyed the interior of  the building .

Philadelphia's Insectarium and Butterfly Pavilion, founded in 1992 in the storefront of an exterminator's shop, consists of three floors of insect exhibits. There you will find mounted displays, a chrysalis chamber, live specimens of insects, amphibians, and reptiles, and a functioning honey-bee hive. The other half of the museum is a 7,000-square-foot tropical butterfly pavilion, one of two in Philadelphia. It's filled with many species of butterflies and moths fluttering around tropical plants under a glass ceiling. 

Perhaps the most unusual things about the Insectarium, however, is not the display of poisons in the gift shop, the H.R. Giger prints, or the large insect sculpture outside, but rather a chapter in the museum's history. Just a year after expanding in 2017 to create the butterfly pavilion, around $40,000 worth of insects and reptiles—including rare spiders, scorpions, and lizards—were stolen from the pavilion in a heist that depleted the museum of 90 percent of its collection.

Related Tags

Museums Bug Insects Reptiles Butterflies Theft

Know Before You Go

The Insectarium and Butterfly Pavilion permanently closed.

Community Contributors

Added By

Brady Santoro

Edited By

carstelvizsla, JPL63, Meg, mdieva

  • carstelvizsla
  • JPL63
  • Meg
  • mdieva

Published

July 30, 2019

Updated

August 9, 2023

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • https://whyy.org/articles/philadelphia-insectarium-evicted-building-damage/
  • https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/30/us/stolen-bugs-insects-philadelphia.html
Philadelphia Insectarium and Butterfly Pavilion
8046 Frankford Ave
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
United States
40.042566, -75.026386
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Frankford Avenue Bridge

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

miles away

Ryerss Museum and Library

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

miles away

Beth Sholom Congregation

Elkins Park, Pennsylvania

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Philadelphia

Philadelphia

Pennsylvania

Places 75
Stories 40

Nearby Places

Frankford Avenue Bridge

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

miles away

Ryerss Museum and Library

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

miles away

Beth Sholom Congregation

Elkins Park, Pennsylvania

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Philadelphia

Philadelphia

Pennsylvania

Places 75
Stories 40

Related Stories and Lists

Where The Butterflies Roam

List

By Jonathan Carey

25 Places to Really Bug Out

List

By Jonathan Carey

Related Places

  • One of many beautiful dioramas.

    Pokhara, Nepal

    Annapurna Natural History Museum Butterfly Collection

    Feast your eyes upon hundreds of Nepal's native butterflies and moths.

  • Bird room.

    Genoa, Italy

    Civic Museum of Natural History Giacomo Doria

    Genoa's collection of over 4 million zoological, botanical, and geological specimens from around the world.

  • Kuala Lumpur Butterfly Park

    Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Kuala Lumpur Butterfly Park

    Hang out with thousands of butterflies in one of the world's largest such enclosures.

  • One of many cases of butterflies at the Daintree Entomological Museum.

    Diwan, Australia

    Daintree Entomological Museum

    Australia's largest collection of rare and bizarre insects.

  • clutters of Monarchs

    Goleta, California

    Goleta Monarch Butterfly Grove

    A popular winter vacation destination for migrating monarch butterflies.

  • Nabokov is so jealous right now

    Volos, Greece

    Entomological Museum of Volos

    This little-known, 35,000-specimen collection in Greece is a lepidopterist's dream.

  • Opuntia pads growing cochineal.

    Oaxaca, Mexico

    Nocheztlicalli - Museo Ecológico de Grana Cochinilla

    Here you can learn about an insect that was called "cactus blood," which trade turned immensely valuable as "red gold".

  • The front of the building

    Fort Davis, Texas

    Rattlers & Reptiles

    A rattlesnake museum showcasing over 30 species, in a century-old building that used to be the general store in this tiny West Texas town.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.