Questacon’s Spiders exhibition will have visitors in a spin

24 Nov 2015 Media release

Questacon – the National Science and Technology Centre has been invaded by eight-legged creepy crawlies – and that’s exactly the way staff and visitors like it!

Questacon’s latest exhibit – Spiders – opened in Canberra today, and features fascinating exhibits and interactive displays, along with 200 spider specimens, including live Australian tarantulas, funnel-webs, redbacks and giant water spiders.

Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP, said the Spiders exhibition was a tremendous example of the value and quality of Australia’s natural history collections.

“Australia has unique biodiversity and there are many stories that can be told about the science and discovery of our natural world,” Mr Pyne said.

“The stories of school students discovering tarantulas in the Northern Territory and citizen scientists uncovering beautiful peacock spiders demonstrate how the community can work with professional museum scientists to play significant roles in the discovery of new species.”

The Spiders exhibition was jointly developed by Questacon and the Australian Museum in Sydney, drawing on the respective strengths of each institution.

The exhibit allows visitors to explore all aspects of a spider’s life. Members of the public can test their dancing skills against a spectacular peacock spider or take a virtual spider home with them on their smart device thanks to a cutting edge Augmented Reality (AR) app.

“Questacon and the Australian Museum should be congratulated on this initiative that presents live spiders and museum specimens alongside hands-on interactive exhibits to allow people to step into the world of these fascinating – and often misunderstood – creatures.”

Spiders will be on display at Questacon until October 2016. It then moves to the Australian Museum before touring other national venues.