Dazzling Diversity
What is the most diverse group of animals on the planet? Insects! They constitute more than two-thirds of all described animal species—and there are more waiting to be discovered.
Celebrate the vast and varied insect world through the pages of early illustrated natural history books. These books span from the late 1700s to the early 1900s, and all are digitized and searchable online in the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL), the world's largest open access digital repository of biodiversity literature. The exhibition provides a glimpse into the wealth of recorded scientific knowledge in their pages, and highlights the continuing relevance of historical science to contemporary biodiversity research.
Dazzling Diversity offers a snapshot of different classes of insects and their habitats while sharing the careful artistry of scientific illustration. Among the works featured is the Biologia Centrali-Americana, a monumental effort to thoroughly catalog all known flora and fauna in Central America and Mexico, which was published over the course of 36 years, from 1879 to 1915.
Read these books and more online in the Dazzling Diversity: The Insect World collection at the Biodiversity Heritage Library.
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Designed, edited, and produced by Smithsonian Exhibits
VISIT THE EXHIBITION
Through December 16, 2025
At the
Smithsonian National Museum
of Natural History
Ground Floor
Location Map
Hours: 10:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Open seven days a week
(Closed Dec. 25)
On the National Mall
10th St. and Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC 20560
