Attack of the Bloodsuckers! Comes to the Mayborn Museum

September 20, 2026–January 3, 2027

What’s biting you? Find out this fall at the Mayborn Museum Complex, where one of nature’s creepiest—and most fascinating—phenomena takes center stage in Attack of the Bloodsuckers!

This skin-crawling, interactive exhibition invites visitors to explore the science behind mosquitoes, fleas, ticks, leeches, and other blood-feeding parasites. Through a dozen hands-on experiences, visitors can discover how these remarkable creatures find their next meal, why they need blood to survive and reproduce, and the surprising roles they play in ecosystems around the world.

Get up close with live mosquitoes and watch their larvae perform a tiny underwater “ballet.” Meet live leeches and see how they use their unusual bodies to crawl, swim, and attach themselves to surfaces. Step into the Mosquito Cockpit and take on the challenge of finding a blood meal from a mosquito’s perspective.

You can even discover how mosquitoes find you. Measure the invisible carbon dioxide in your breath and learn how mosquitoes use this chemical trail to locate potential targets. Test your ability to detect heat, explore how a mosquito’s compound eyes see the world, and investigate why movement can make you easier—or harder—to spot.

Other interactive experiences let visitors examine the tools bloodsuckers use to feed, magnify familiar pests such as fleas, ticks, lice, and bed bugs, and investigate whether mosquitoes might find you particularly attractive. Add your data to graphs, play TwITCHer, a buggy twist on the classic game of Twister, and spin through the mosquito life cycle from wriggling larva to adult.

And, of course, no visit would be complete without meeting Ms. Phillipa Tick—a giant inflatable tick who invites visitors to sit in her lap while she grows around them. It's both a memorable photo opportunity and a chance to appreciate just how extraordinary these tiny creatures can be.

Attack of the Bloodsuckers! also goes beyond mosquitoes and ticks to reveal blood-feeding creatures from around the world, including vampire bats, sea lampreys, vampire moths, vampire fish, and even blood-sucking birds.

Whether you're fascinated by nature, intrigued by the bizarre, or simply brave enough to get a little gross, Attack of the Bloodsuckers! offers an unforgettable way to explore the science of what’s biting you.

Attack of the Bloodsuckers! is on view at the Mayborn Museum Complex September 20, 2026, through January 3, 2027.