Ant infected by a parasitic fungus Cordyceps sp. (fungus); Pachycondyla sp. (ant)

Vital Variety:
A Visual Celebration of Invertebrate Biodiversity

First Floor

Vital Variety: A Visual Celebration of Invertebrate Biodiversity, an exhibition of 24 large-format color photographs by entomologist Piotr Naskrecki, opens March 19, 2004, in the gallery adjacent to the LeFrak Imax® Theater at the American Museum of Natural History. Director of the Invertebrate Diversity Initiative at Conservation International, Dr. Naskrecki has been documenting invertebrates as both scientist and photographer since 1992. On view through spring 2005, this exhibition pairs his extraordinarily beautiful close-up photographs with informative captions that highlight the importance of the immense diversity of invertebrates, which comprise more than 80 percent of Earth's known species, and play a critical role in the survival of humankind. The exhibition was produced by the Museum's Center for Biodiversity and Conservation (CBC) and was curated by Sacha Spector, Manager of the CBC's Invertebrate Conservation Program and a longtime colleague of Dr. Naskrecki.

Silk moth cocoons Bombyx mori

Aimed at helping people see the incredible world of invertebrates in a new light, Vital Variety: A Visual Celebration of Invertebrate Biodiversity is divided into seven sections: Supporting Earth's Ecosystems, Commodities and Innovations, New Discoveries, Endangered Treasures, Hidden Dramas, Pests and Parasites, and Ecosystem Engineers. Among the highlights are images of vibrantly red velvet mites, a giant land crab, intricately woven silk moth cocoons, a Malagasy katydid that looks like a leaf, a head-on image of a tiger beetle, and a number of recently discovered and still undescribed species.

Born in Poland, Dr. Naskrecki obtained a master's degree in zoology at the A. Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland, and a Ph.D. in entomology at the University of Connecticut. Many of Dr. Naskrecki's photographs were created in places such as Madagascar, Botswana, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Guinea, Namibia, and South Africa while working with Conservation International's Rapid Assessment Program.

Giant land crab Cardisoma guanhumi

The CBC's Invertebrate Conservation Program promotes the inclusion of invertebrates in the conservation process by developing the scientific and educational resources needed to save the "other 80 percent" of biodiversity.

Vital Variety is presented by the Museum in conjunction with the CBC' spring symposium, Expanding the Ark: The Emerging Science and Practice of Invertebrate Conservation, a forum at which speakers from around the world will discuss one of the greatest challenges facing the conservation community today: identifying, managing, and conserving invertebrate biodiversity. This symposium will be held Thursday and Friday, March 25 and 26, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., in the Kaufmann and Linder theaters at the American Museum of Natural History.

In addition to co-curating the exhibition Dr. Spector is the content coordinator for the Expanding the Ark symposium. A native of the New York area, he received his B.S. in environmental biology from Yale University and a Ph.D. in ecology at the University of Connecticut.

Planthopper nymph Order Auchenorrhyncha

Further enhancing visitors' knowledge of the world of invertebrates, the Museum is presenting Bugs! a new giant-screen film narrated by Academy-Award winning actress Dame Judi Dench, which opens in the Samuel J. and Ethel LeFrak Theater at the American Museum of Natural History on Saturday, April 24, 2004, and runs through October 15, 2004. The 40-minute film, a light-hearted romp through the exotic Borneo rain forest, showcases a fascinating array of insects that inhabit the area. Bugs! gives viewers a new appreciation for the drama and complexity of the insect world, and culminates in a rain forest face-off between a butterfly and a praying mantis.

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Photography Exhibitions Archive