Are you a hellraiser mite or a knobbled weevil? Take the quiz and vote for NZ’s Bug of the Year

By Connal McLean, PhD Candidate in Zoology, University of Otago
Jacqueline Theis, PhD Candidate in Ecology, University of Otago

The New Zealand velvet worm’s reign as Bug of the Year is coming to an end, with voting now open for the 2026 competition.

This year, 21 nominees are vying for the crown in the competition’s fourth year. Nearly 100 bugs have so far featured, representing an incredible range of rich invertebrate diversity – from insects and arachnids to crustaceans, worms and molluscs.

The term “bug” was chosen deliberately. While not scientifically precise, it acts as an easily understood umbrella definition of Aotearoa New…

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