Close Encounters with Aquatic Insects: Technical Illustrations

By Shepherd Myers,

Tour the exhibit, enjoy refreshments, and celebrate insect life with hands-on origami bug folding guided by origami expert Matthew Myers. You will come away with a new appreciation for insects! Whether you’re a fly-fishing enthusiast, an entomologist, or anyone who has ever marveled at the exquisiteness of a mayfly, this is a show you won’t want to miss.

Inspired by Shepherd Myers’s observations of fishermen in our own Housatonic River, this exhibition offers a rare chance to enjoy the intricate beauty of aquatic insects up close. Technical illustrations like these, complying with the highest degree of scientific accuracy, are typically available only in scientific journals and rarely shown to the general public. This unique exhibition displays a fascinating variety of adults, nymphs, and larvae found in river streams and ponds both locally and worldwide. Each illustration is accompanied by a summary including information on morphology, taxonomy, ecological similarity, and biomarkers of watershed health.

Shepherd Myers is an entomologist and illustrator. For over a decade, he was Collection Manager at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum in Honolulu, where his work included scientific outreach and exhibit design. With over fourteen million specimens, the Bishop Museum has one of the largest insect collections in the United States. Shepherd's illustrations, photos, and technical figures have been published in peer-reviewed journals. Originally from western New York State, he currently lives in Salisbury, CT.