Aotearoa is home to thousands of fascinating insects, spiders, slugs, snails, centipedes, springtails and other bugs. These bugs make up more than half of our animal diversity and many of them are found nowhere else on the planet! Bugs are vital for the health of our ecosystems: they are food for our birds and fish, they pollinate our crops and flowers, and they keep our soils aerated, our waste decomposed and our backyard buzzing.
There are 20 nominees vying for New Zealand Bug of the Year 2024, who will you vote for?
Get your vote in by midnight 12 February. Results will be announced on 14 February 2024.
For more information and to vote: https://bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz.
There are some familiar nominees but also this year a much broader diversity of bugs are highlighted on the nominee list. There are representatives from 3 phyla (Arthropoda, Mollusca and Onychophora), 5 Classes, 14 Orders and 19 Families. Nine of the nominees have populations that are threatened.
Last year Ngaro huruhuru – native bee (Leioproctus fulvescens) was the first to be crowned New Zealand Bug of the Year – who will it be this year?.
Related content
For more on insects, see these key articles:
- What’s so special about insects?
- Insect taxonomy
- Aquatic insect life
- Insects – physical characteristics
- Wētā
- Glow-worms
- Label the insect activity
- All about insects – PLD webinar
- Butterflies
- Moths
Discover how insects use their antennae in this fascinating article.
Our article Living World – Insects, provides links to the wide range of Science Learning Hub resources for teachers related to insects in the Living World strand of the New Zealand Curriculum.
Visit our We love bugs! Pinterest board for links to more resources and community activities.
Useful links
Read more about why Bug of the Year is so important in this 2023 The Conversation article: Insects and spiders make up more than half NZ’s animal biodiversity – time to celebrate these spineless creatures.
Visit the Entomological Society of New Zealand website.
