Traveling Arthropod Show

Is your class or group fascinated by hairy spiders and many-legged millipedes? The Colorado Plateau Museum of Arthropod Biodiversity will bring its Traveling Arthropod Show to your K-12 classroom, community event, or group. Because hands-on learning is what the Traveling Arthropod Show is all about, the program features a wide range of live and preserved specimens. Presentations focus on the biology, ecology, and natural history of various native and nonnative arthropod species.

If your participants are interested in a more complete experience, your class or groups may want to enjoy the show at the Colorado Plateau Museum of Arthropod Biodiversity on NAU’s campus. The museum houses a wider variety of arthropods than can be easily transported.

What is an arthropod?

Arthropods include all insects, spiders, scorpions, centipedes and millipedes, crustaceans, and other invertebrates with an exoskeleton (external skeleton), a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are the most abundant and diverse organisms on the planet, making up some 80% of all of the animal species that have been described.

Insects and spiders are the primary arthropods that live on the land and can be found on every continent. Where humans are concerned, arthropods serve an important role in the food supply as pollinators of crops.

Schedule a show

The presentation typically takes about an hour. If the show is conducted in Flagstaff, a fee of $75 is requested to cover expenses. If you would like to schedule a show outside of Flagstaff, the requested fee is $120 in addition to a mileage charge of $0.44/mile.

To schedule the Traveling Arthropod Show for your class or group, please contact Neil Cobb at Neil.Cobb@nau.edu or 928-523-5528 at least 2 weeks in advance.