Natural History
Monthly Archive: December Natu
Entomystery – why did the beetles go to camp?
Occasionally, I put on my entomological detective hat to investigate insect mysteries. This one was a beetle mystery at my son’s camp in a Toronto elementary school. My son reported a large number (hundreds!) of tiny beetles swarming the windows in his classroom and asked me to look at them.
The ROM's Remarkable Bees
Guest blog by Antonia Guidotti, Entomology Technician
ROM visitors love the live hive of European Honey Bees in the Hands-on Biodiversity Gallery. They are encouraged to look for the queen bee and if they find her, will receive an “I found the Queen Bee” sticker.
Most Common Questions
Are they alive?
Yes, they are. Look closely at the hive and you will see how busy these bees are.
What do they eat?
Presenting our Winners of the 2023 ROM Wildlife Photographer of the Year Contest
Captivating Images from Winners of the ROM Photographer of the Year Contest
Presenting our Winners of the 2022 ROM Wildlife Photographer of the Year Contest
Captivating Images from Winners of the ROM Photographer of the Year Contest
Presenting our Winners of the 2021 ROM Wildlife Photographer of the Year Contest
Captivating Images from Winners of the ROM Photographer of the Year Contest
Presenting our Winners of the 2018 ROM Wildlife Photographer of the Year Contest
Captivating Images from Winners of the ROM Photographer of the Year Contest
The Rules of Taxonomy: How Species Are Named
Why should ROM curators care about a proposal to create an organization that would make rules for how species of living things are named?
When Things Go Wrong for Right Whales
Guest blog written by Environmental Visual Communication student Viridiana Jimenez
The death of seventeen right whales in 2017 represents a loss of over 3% of the population. The significance of this loss has sent the scientific community into a panic. Their deaths were primarily caused by ship collisions or entanglements with fishing gear. As frequent visitors to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, we must now work together to save this species from extinction.
Presenting our Winners of the 2017 ROM Wildlife Photographer of the Year Contest
In celebration of the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition, the Ontario-wide ROM Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest returned for its third year – with incredible prizes for both adult and youth categories!
When Whaling is Your Tradition
Guest blog written by Environmental Visual Communication student Ursula McClintock
In some Indigenous communities around the world, whaling is as much a part of their tradition as my family’s turkey dinner at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Whale hunting has played an integral role in feeding Inuit communities for millennia. Bowhead whales, among many other species of whales, were hunted to near extinction at the turn of the 20th century. Yet more often than not, Indigenous communities are cast in the same light as the commercial groups that are responsible for the near collapse of populations of these iconic marine animals.
