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Not for those of you that start itching the minute you think of a
creepy crawly, but a fantastic exhibition of living insects awaits right through from
crickets to butterflies, stick insects, cockroaches and mantises, even to bees that have
their own recreated hive are all on display.
The 150 square metres of exhibition space will also allow you to see displays of different
species from other countries as well as those closer to home, such as the blower cockroach
from Madagascar.
The OPIE has six regional offices, but the core team is located at Guyancourt near Chateau Versailles in the Yvelines department on the
outskirts of Paris and not only will be able to see
live insects, but there are also films about insects and educational exhibits on the world
of insects.
It is a great place to get some general education on what insects are and how you can
recognise them and as we found out, they are the only animals in the world that have six
legs, so hence why spiders or crustaceans, etc cannot be called insects!
For those of you that study insects, whether it be as a hobby or professionally, then you
will be pleased to know that there is an archive section and reference part that is
available by appointment and the OPIE maintains a library of over 20000 photographs purely
devoted to insects.
All of the insect vivariums explain the life of the insects and their specifics with
richly illustrated panels, which help to provide more of an understanding about this often
little thought about part of our world.
They also provide information on how to raise specific insects and specific types of
butterflies and you have the opportunity of purchasing certain insects, which is what a
lot of schools do for educational purposes and did you realise that France has more than
5000 species of butterflies!
For more information and details on when you are able to visit it is best if you were to
contact them as these details do vary.
Address & Contact Details:
OPIE - Office pour les insectes et leur environnement
Domaine de l'Inra
La Mini?re
78041
Guyancourt
France
Telephone: 1 30 44 13 43
Fax: 1 30 43 64 59
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