SAN DIEGO, CA--April 1, 2005 From May 28 through January 1, 2006, the San Diego Natural History Museum will be going absolutely buggy. Backyard Monsters, the Museum's newest featured exhibition, will give museum visitors a bug's-eye-view of life. Giant, robotic insects, up to 11' high and 22' long, with lifelike motion, are paired with interactive learning displays and one of the world's largest private specimen collections. Along with the exhibition, the Museum will also feature the giant-screen film A Rainforest Adventure--Bugs! that combines incredible footage with cutting-edge IMAX® technology to deliver a fantastically entertaining and enlightening experience about the little guys in life.

"With giant animatronics, like the 12-foot-high tarantula, or the monarch butterfly with a 19-foot wingspan, Backyard Monsters and the Bugs! film give visitors a 'Honey, I Shrunk the Kids' feeling. Imagine encountering everyday creatures found in your backyard, only you're about a quarter of an inch tall!" says Deputy Director of Public Programs, Jim Stone.

Upon entering the 6500-square-foot exhibition hall, visitors will feel miniaturized in the giant backyard setting. Blades of grass are the size of trees and insects are, well, huge. Visitors should be on the look out for a tarantula that will lurch forward, rear up and snap its fangs into fighting position and the two fighting atlas beetles. Visitors can also watch a beautiful caterpillar rise up and search for a tasty leaf and a fantastic monarch butterfly beat its beautiful wings. Each figure contains a system of animated robotics that enables it to exhibit lifelike movements such as moving heads, flapping wings, and creeping legs.

Hands-on interactive displays give visitors the opportunity to build a bug, create a bug orchestra, and take a robotic insect for a walk. The specimens in the exhibition include very large, very beautiful and very weird insects from around the world and from San Diego County. The Museum has planned a variety of buggy events, including family movie nights, summer camps, lectures, field trips and more. Backyard Monsters is developed and circulated by Adventure Edutainment, LLC. A Rainforest Adventure--Bugs! is an SK Films release.

The San Diego Natural History Museum is located in Balboa Park. It is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; it is closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Admission to the Museum--$9 for adults, $6 for seniors, students, and military, and $5 for children ages 3-17. One admission includes all exhibitions, performances, and giant-screen films. The Museum's website is www.sdnhm.org; phone 619.232.3821.

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