Animal Attraction
February 10, 2012
From insects that eat their mates to snails that shoot “love darts,” the natural world is filled with wild mating strategies. In the newly opened aquarium gallery titled Animal Attraction, explore the remarkable and often surprising techniques that animals have developed for attracting mates and producing offspring. You’ll encounter hermaphroditic banana slugs, betta fish that build their nests out of bubbles, cannibalistic praying mantises, and more than a dozen other live creatures.
For the first time, the Academy is using iPads as exhibit labels, allowing visitors to peruse gorgeous images and watch videos of these amorous behaviors in action. And throughout the museum, Academy docents will share additional tales from the natural world, such as how giraffes know when the time is right (hint: it involves urine) and why cacao couldn’t reproduce without the help of a specific fly.
Read reviews in the San Francisco Chronicle and USA Today.
Learn more about the exhibit.
Cannibalistic mantid Hermaphroditic banana slugs
Love is in the air—and under the sea—with special programs through March 23, 2012, including:
Penguin Feedings: Sea of Love Edition
Daily at 10:30 am and 3:00 pm
Learn who is mating with whom during our African penguins’ feeding time.
Pollination Partners
Daily at 1:00 pm
Dance like a bee and learn how flowers reproduce with the help of these insects.
The Magic of Life
Fridays – Mondays at 12:00 pm
Explore the link between reproduction and evolution with specimens, videos, pictures, and more.
Family Nature Crafts
Sundays at 11:00 am
Get creative with crafts inspired by amazing animal parents. Suitable for ages 5-10.
