Hawaiʻi's creepy crawly creatures are the subject of an art exhibit opening at Honolulu Printmakers.
The exhibit, titled "Disharmonic," is a collaboration between local artists and the UH Insect Museum that aims to promote conservation efforts for Hawaiʻi's endangered insects.
Despite — or because of — the fact they live right beneath are feet, insects are an often overlooked part of Hawaiʻi's ecosystem, said Sandra Schachat, an organizer for the event.
HPR spoke with two members and organizers of the museum, which is tucked away in the university's Gilmore Hall, to learn more.
"People are aware of the problem in a very general sense. They know that there's an extinction crisis," she said. "They know that it impacts insects, but they couldn't even tell you what's at stake in their own backyard."
"So we're shining a light on these insect species that, in some cases, are doing just fine, in many cases, are endangered, and in a few cases, unfortunately, are already extinct."
Dan Rubinoff is the director of the UH Insect Museum, and he hopes that an art exhibition can inspire onlookers to protect the beautiful world that bugs are a part of.
"We're doing this because there's a whole segment of the population that is far more willing to go to an art gallery than they are to an insect museum," he said.
"These are amazing, delicate, beautiful insects that do crazy things that are found nowhere else in the world, and that nobody else is going to see again if we don't do something about the losses that are happening right now."
More information about the museum and the upcoming exhibit can be found here.
This story aired on The Conversation on Oct. 21, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
