Shanghai Insect Museum

Shanghai Insect Museum

The Shanghai Insect Museum is a science education base.

The Shanghai Insect Museum is affiliated with the Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Its predecessor was the entomology department of the Musee Heude (Shanghai Aurora Museum), established in 1868 by French Catholic priest P. Heude. It was built in Xujiahui in 1883, but later, due to an overwhelming number of specimens that could not be stored, a new Aurora Museum was constructed in 1930 on Rue Dubail (now South Chongqing Road). At the time, it housed the largest collection of flora and fauna specimens from China in the Far East, earning the reputation of the “British Museum of Asia.”

The Shanghai Insect Museum has successively led dozens of projects including key programs of the National Natural Science Foundation. It has conducted systematic taxonomic research on five major groups of insects: proturans, grasshoppers, termites, scale insects, horseflies, and flies. It has proposed many unique insights into insect classification systems, participated in various scientific surveys across the country, and received awards.

The museum houses the Helena Morpho butterfly, known as the most beautiful butterfly in the world. This butterfly is native to countries such as Brazil and Peru, is extremely rare, and is very precious. Not only is its body graceful and its wings spread like a peacock’s display, but the butterfly wings also glow and change color—shifting between deep blue, azure, and light blue. The white veins on its wings resemble embedded jewels, shimmering brilliantly and enchantingly. Each specimen is valued at 360,000 yuan, and there are only three in China.

Address: No. 300 Fenglin Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai (near Xietu Road)

Type: Museum

Recommended visiting time: 1–2 hours

Phone: 021-54924191

Official website: http://www.shem.com.cn/

Opening hours:

9:00–16:30 (last admission at 16:00)

Open all year round, including holidays

Ticket information:

Door price: 15.0 yuan

Transportation

Buses: 49, 72, 89, 218, 572, 733, 932, Tunnel Line 2 (get off at Fenglin Road Station); Metro: Lines 4 and 7 (get off at Dong’an Road Station, Exit 1)

Adults: 15 yuan; Students (with student ID) and children: 7 yuan. (Students with electronic student IDs can visit for free)