Biodome/Insectarium 2024

 

I never took much of a vacation over the summer, so a few weeks ago my father and I took a fairly spontaneous day trip to Montreal’s Biodome and Insectarium.
 
We had a lunch lovingly made and packed for us the night before, left early the next morning, got breakfast, and drove to Montreal.
 
The Biodome is part of Montreal’s former Olympic Stadium (the velodrome). 

A lot of walking to and from where we wanted to go, but worth it.

 
The Biodome contains five ecosystems representing life in parts of the Americas: the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Sub-Antarctic Islands, Labrador Coast, Tropical Rainforest, and Laurentian Maple Forest.
 
Dad and I did the Gulf first, which was two levels. The top level was a few tidal pools with starfish, urchins, and anemones, then rocky outcrops and perches for ducks and seabirds. 

The bottom level was an aquarium. There were small tanks with lamprey, more starfish and anemones, and shrimp, and a much larger tank with bigger fish, chief among them several black sturgeon.

 

At first I thought they were sharks! Photos don’t do justice to just how massive and prehistoric-looking these things were.
 
Next, we went into the shared Sub-Antarctic and Labrador environ. Freezing cold with icy walls, but nice on a hot day. This was filled with puffins, murres and my Dad’s favourite, penguins!

All different species of them, from one or two gigantic king penguins to smaller rockhoppers, some of which were pretty good at showing off for people.

From there, we went into the incredibly humid rainforest. Pro-tip: do this BEFORE the cold stuff!
 
In the main environment, we saw macaws, an alligator, tamarins (tiny monkeys), very well-camouflaged capybaras, and a couple odd-looking birds. Attached was a darker exhibit with poison dart frogs, bats, and piranhas.

Lastly was the Maple Forest, basically the same ecosystem as where our family’s cabin is. A beaver lodge, raccoon, a couple river otters, and a pair of lynx (one of my favourites!)

That was it. I bought a little souvenir magnet before leaving.

We then walked back to where we parked, looking at various Olympic displays on the way.

Inhaled our lunch and drove to the Insectarium, located in a nice little park around the corner.

A very random place, but probably more fun than the Biodome. The entrance is modeled after a termite mound. Very tight and narrow, brownish stucco looking like dirt and almost pitch black, with little tunnels (obviously made for little kids).

Around certain corners are little visual treats like flower-shaped lights on the floor and a Bug's-eye View simulator.

This leads to a room full of mounted insects, collected together based on themes like colour, size, antennas, and horns.

Camouflage

The final part of the Insectarium was a giant greenhouse, teaming with butterflies and other insects. I got dive-bombed more than once, and had one or two briefly land on me.

One of the employees was showing a group of visitors a Caribbean stick insect. When they were finished, I approached to learn more, and she asked me if I wanted to hold it. Tickled a little bit, but otherwise didn't feel weird at all!

 Right before the exit, we saw a tree full of leaf cutter ants, actually cutting, eating, and marching with leaves!

We drove to a deli for a smoked-meat sandwich before driving home.

Another year, another fun trip, and sciencey place I can say I've visited.

Cheers!