What is the Entomological Information Service?
This service is free, and its purpose is:
- to help you appreciate our insect wildlife;
- to suggest some tips or behaviors to adopt in order to live in harmony with insects.
The service does not offer:
- expertise for legal purposes. Owing to problems associated with the identification of ants, especially carpenter ants, we do not confirm identification of those insects by genus or species. For a problem involving ants, whatever the species, consult our section on ants.
- tick identification. Instead consult etick.ca
- telephone or home consultation;
- sale, loan or donation of specimens from the Insectarium collections;
- identification of personal collections (specimens or photographs), their monetary or scientific evaluation;
- guidance for school projects . Students are encouraged to visit our site at Insects and other arthropods section.
If you suspect the presence of an insect, a spider or another arthropod in fruit or other food, you should contact:
For the montréal area
division de l’inspection des aliments, ville de montréal: 514-280-4300
Elsewhere in Québec
Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation du Québec (MAPAQ):
1-800-463-5023
Making a request online, with or without photo
For photographs, make sure:
- that they’re clear and at home
- to present your specimen from different angles so that we can see a maximum of features and shapes.
You can send us electronic files (max. 8 MB) or photos on paper.
Sending in a specimen
How to send us a specimen How to send us a specimen page.
At the counter
Once your insect or arthropod specimens are packed, you can deliver them to the Entomological Information Service counter at the Insectarium. Note that there are no entomologists on site, and that your specimens (and objects) will not be returned to you.
By mail
Insectarium de Montréal
Entomological Information Service
4581, rue Sherbrooke Est
Montréal, QC H1X 2B2
It’s not always easy to identify insects!
It can happen that a photograph fails to show important features or that the identification tools don’t exist. Nevertheless, in every case, Insectarium staff will do its best to answer your queries!
The Montréal Insectarium reserves the right to refuse any requests it considers unreasonable.
Leave living specimens in the wild!
When removed from their natural environment, most insects will die shortly after their capture. When you find a living insect, we suggest you leave it in its habitat, where it will continue its life cycle, contribute to maintaining its population, and play its vital ecological role.