For immediate release

A New Exhibit Buzzes into Fernbank Museum

Extinct and Endangered: Insects in Peril opens Aug. 9 in WildWoods

ATLANTA, GA, July 9, 2025 — Starting Aug. 9, Fernbank guests will encounter incredible photographs of some of the animal kingdom's tiniest members in “Extinct and Endangered: Insects in Peril.” This exhibit features the macrophotography work of Levon Biss, highlighting 19 endangered or extinct insect species using a close-angled format.

Insects are the largest group of animals on Earth. But the evidence is clear: many insect species are in decline due to changes to land and climate. By visiting this exhibit, guests will discover how a variety of beetles, moths, bees, katydids and "true” bugs help pollinate plants, recycle matter back into the soil, provide food for other species, and help keep ecosystems healthy. “Extinct and Endangered” helps bring attention to the urgent extinction crisis threatening insect populations while showcasing the significance and beauty of these overlooked animals through massive 6-foot-wide x 4-foot-tall photographs, displayed along the nature trails of WildWoods at Fernbank.

Biss specializes in a form of macrophotography that can take three weeks and up to 10,000 individual images to produce a single final photograph. Through this format and specialized lenses, he reveals each insect’s minute details on a never-before-seen scale that allows guests to make keen observations, like spotting a tiny yellow patch of pollen often carried on the abdomen of the Blue Calamintha Bee. The insects featured in this exhibit are from the American Museum of Natural History’s world-class scientific collection.

“There are two sides to this exhibition,” said photographer Levon Biss. “There’s the beauty and the celebration of these creatures. But there’s also a somberness, when you marvel at these insects and start to understand that they are already extinct, or close to being gone, and the reason for that is us, primarily.”

“Extinct and Endangered” calls attention to the ongoing work to protect insect populations around the globe, featuring stories such as the rediscovery of the Lord Howe Island stick insect of Australia, thought to be extinct until 2003. By exploring the exhibit, museum guests can discover the importance that insects have in the ecosystem and marvel at their beauty, which can go unseen to the naked eye.

“Insects make up 75-80% of the entire animal kingdom,” said Fernbank’s Director of Education, Sarah Arnold. “They are true heavyweights when it comes to keeping ecosystems functioning.”

“Extinct and Endangered: Insects in Peril” is on view at Fernbank Museum from Aug. 9 – Nov. 2, 2025. For more information, visit FernbankMuseum.org. “Extinct and Endangered: Insects in Peril” is organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York (amnh.org) with photography by Levon Biss. The exhibit is made possible locally by the generous support of Orkin and The Gary W. Rollins Foundation.

Tickets 

Exhibits, films and Discovery Days are included with daytime general admission and with CityPASS. General admission tickets include three floors of exhibits in the museum, choice of one giant screen film, and 75 acres of nature explorations in Fernbank Forest and WildWoods. Fernbank is located at 767 Clifton Road NE in Atlanta, minutes from midtown Atlanta and downtown Decatur.   

General admission tickets vary by date and program, starting at $23.95 for children, $24.95 for seniors and $25.95 for adults, and include a film in the Giant Screen Theater. Tickets purchased online are discounted. Members receive free general admission. More information is available at FernbankMuseum.org.  

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Media Contact: Media.Relations@FernbankMuseum.org

About Fernbank      

Fernbank is one of the most popular and iconic cultural destinations in Atlanta. Known as Atlanta's Science and Nature Experience, Fernbank invites guests to discover a World of Wow through an expansive natural history museum, 4-story giant screen theater, and 75-acres of nature adventures in WildWoods and Fernbank Forest. One of the oldest not-for-profit conservation organizations in the country, Fernbank was founded in 1939 to preserve Fernbank Forest, the largest urban, old growth, Piedmont forest in the United States. The museum and giant screen theater opened as "a school in the woods for nature studies" on Oct. 5, 1992, and is today known for its giant dinosaurs, hands-on STEAM* programming, immersive experiences, and year-round nature exploration. Visit fernbankmuseum.org and follow @fernbankmuseum on Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube and TikTok for more information. *Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. 

ABOUT LEVON BISS 

Throughout his 25-year career, British photographer Levon Biss has covered a wide range of photographic genres, including portraiture, documentary, and sport. But he is renowned for his extreme closeup work, known as macrophotography. His work has been shown in numerous museums, on the covers of international magazines and he is the author of four books of macrophotography. Biss’s photographic process captures the finest of details and provides viewers with a unique visual experience. Each image takes approximately four weeks to create and is produced from 10,000 individual photographs using a bespoke camera system with microscopic lenses. The clarity in these photographs reveals intricate details normally hidden from the human eye and encourages a new level of respect for the insect world.  

ABOUT THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY (AMNH)   

The American Museum of Natural History, founded in 1869 with a dual mission of scientific research and science education, is one of the world’s preeminent scientific, educational, and cultural institutions. The Museum encompasses more than 40 permanent exhibition halls, galleries for temporary exhibitions, the Rose Center for Earth and Space including the Hayden Planetarium, and the Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation. The Museum’s scientists draw on a world-class permanent collection of more than 30 million specimens and artifacts, some of which are billions of years old, and on one of the largest natural history libraries in the world. Through its Richard Gilder Graduate School, the Museum offers two of the only free-standing, degree-granting programs of their kind at any museum in the U.S.: the Ph.D. program in Comparative Biology and the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) Earth Science residency program. Visit amnh.org for more information.