The Cocoon houses millions of insect and plant specimens. Beautiful displays, interactive exhibits and touch-screens reveal the science within.
Take the glass lift to the seventh floor for a self-led tour. Your journey descends two gently sloping floors on different levels and you exit on the fifth floor in the Conclusion Zone. Enjoy some highlights in this slideshow.
Entrance is free. Tour time: about 45 minutes. No advance booking required.
Discover hundreds of specimens and objects on your Cocoon tour, from butterflies and beetles to huge tarantulas, metre-high plants and historic herbariums.
Look in on our laboratories and watch research in action.
At the start of your Cocoon journey take in the spectacular views, including the top of the magnificent futuristic building you are about to explore.
Examine bees, brightly coloured butterflies, poppies and all sorts of spiders set in a huge translucent table as you come out of the lift at the top of the Cocoon
Touch-screen displays offer detail about the spectacular specimens.
Use your NaturePlus card here and start collecting content to explore later online.
Beautiful botanical and insect wall projections create a unique atmosphere throughout the Cocoon experience.
Your virtual science guides on the Cocoon tour are Museum insect and plant experts Jan (above), Blanca, Mark and Max. Throughout your tour you will hear from them about the science that takes place inside the Darwin Centre.
Stop at the large glass specimen case filled with more than 300 plant and insect specimens. See how scientists categorise living things into groups. Touch the glass to light up the specimens in more detail. Look out for unusual species such as the 15cm elephant beetle and the 70cm kiwi fruit.
Spend some time at the fascinating Decoding DNA area, opposite the molecular lab where more than 3,000 mosquito species are studied. Exhibits and videos explore DNA and the spread of disease.
Play The Challenge interactive game to control malaria, and inspect the large female mosquito model, above.
Become a butterfly expert and identify species using the animated What's in a Name touch-exhibit at the Organising Nature display. Discover how Museum scientists order natural history collections and choose names for new species.
Study the eye-catching wall display of fieldwork expedition equipment as you descend the sixth floor. Try planning an expedition to South America or Scotland on the touch-screen displays. Follow the video guide's instructions and see how well prepared you’d be.
Watch science trip video diaries at nearby displays.
Learn about the life of a working Museum scientist at the Specimen Preparation Area (SPA) on the sixth floor. Talk to scientific staff through the two-way microphone as they prepare and conserve specimens from around the world.
Pull out collection drawers at the Looking After the Collection display area on the fifth floor. Examine our precious collections through 4cm-thick fire and pest-proof glass.
Before you leave the Cocoon, stop in the Conclusion Zone and try out the Inside Explorer Table. Swipe the 55-inch screen to rotate, slice and peel away the layers of specimens, including a bee-fly and an anglerfish.
Continue exploring Cocoon later with your NaturePlus card.