A new, interactive exhibition, focusing on the life of invertebrates, will be opening at Bristol Zoo Gardens on 1 April.

The touring Monster Creepy Crawlies exhibition centres upon the magnified world of insects and will be staged undercover in a marquee within the grounds of the zoo.

The temporary, 450sq m exhibition, managed by Tourwest, will be aiming to attract visitors of all ages until 7 September.

Visitors will come face to face with 13 huge, animatronic model bugs, some which are up to 180 times the creature’s original size.

The fibreglass models include ladybirds, scorpions, a green bottle fly and a giant mosquito that sucks blood from a super sized human thumb.

Touch screens, live animals and displays will offer visitors the chance to learn about the animals’ habits, locales, feeding and lifecycles.

A number of displays will be made to appeal to the senses – there will be opportunities to smell, feel and even jump like an insect.

And for those with strong stomachs, there will also be a chance to discover – through electron microscope images – how microscopic invertebrates live and multiply in houses and gardens.

Warren Spencer, head of the invertebrate department at the zoo, said: “It is fantastic to see insects brought life in such huge and dramatic models. The exhibition is a lot of fun, but it is also raising awareness for the need to conserve some of our most endangered invertebrates.”

Bristol Zoo Gardens was selected as the ‘Zoo of the Year’ by the Good Britain Guide in 2004 and is open to public every day the year except Christmas Day.

Edith Lowe, director of Tourwest, said: “After Bristol, the exhibition will probably leave these shores and begin a tour in the US, so the bugs are leaving Britain for a while.” Details: www.bristolzoo.org.uk or www.tourwest.co.uk