Best Photos of the Day

The leafcutter ant colony at the Solomon Family Insectarium, where visitors can observe the ants cutting and transporting pieces of foliage, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, Aug. 8, 2023. Since a new wing opened in May, almost 1.5 million people have visited the museum, and most are thought to have explored the four floors of the Gilder Center that are open to the public. (Vincent Tullo/The New York Times).

Visitors in the Reading Room of the fourth-floor of the Gottesman Research Library and Learning Center, which has more than half a million volumes, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, Aug. 8, 2023. Since a new wing opened in May, almost 1.5 million people have visited the museum, and most are thought to have explored the four floors of the Gilder Center that are open to the public. (Vincent Tullo/The New York Times).

Leafcutter ants in their enclosure at the Solomon Family Insectarium, where visitors can observe the ants cutting and transporting pieces of foliage, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, Aug. 8, 2023. Leafcutter ants have specialized roles and those that carry the leaf fragments are called majors. (Vincent Tullo/The New York Times).

Visitors at “Invisible Worlds,” the Gilder Center’s 360-degree interactive immersive experience, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, Aug. 8, 2023. Digital technology creates the illusion of being in space, undersea and within living bodies. (Vincent Tullo/The New York Times).

A detail of the Yurman Family Crystalline Pass, which recreates a section of a vein of rock crystal quartz discovered in Arkansas, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, Aug. 8, 2023. Since a new wing opened in May, almost 1.5 million people have visited the museum, and most are thought to have explored the four floors of the Gilder Center that are open to the public. (Vincent Tullo/The New York Times).

The 8, 000-pound resin model of a honeybee hive, containing displays and interactive elements, at the Solomon Family Insectarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, Aug. 8, 2023. Since a new wing opened in May, almost 1.5 million people have visited the museum, and most are thought to have explored the four floors of the Gilder Center that are open to the public. (Vincent Tullo/The New York Times).

A visitor examines a case of Pueblo Pottery and Maya bricks in the Louis V. Gerstner Jr. Collections Core, a three-story space that exhibits items from the museum’s vast collections, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, Aug. 8, 2023. Since a new wing opened in May, almost 1.5 million people have visited the museum, and most are thought to have explored the four floors of the Gilder Center that are open to the public. (Vincent Tullo/The New York Times).

A butterfly perches on a visitor’s face at the Davis Family Butterfly Vivarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, Aug. 8, 2023. The vivarium’s residents frequently perch on visitors; male butterflies like to sip human sweat. (Vincent Tullo/The New York Times).

Visitors in the Davis Family Butterfly Vivarium at the Gilder Center for Science, Innovation and Education at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, Aug. 8, 2023. The Davis Family Butterfly Vivarium is a year-round display with about 80 species fluttering about on any given day. (Vincent Tullo/The New York Times).

A mystery piece playfully titled “Withus Oragainstus,” on display at the Gottesman Research Library and Learning Center within the Gilder Center for Science, Innovation and Education at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, Aug. 8, 2023. The piece was left at the museum in 2005 and is believed to be Banksy’s work. (Vincent Tullo/The New York Times).