Bug of the Year 2026
01 January 2026 - 16 February 2026
Region(s): Nationwide
Type(s): competitions
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.
All about insects
Insects offer stimulating content with which teachers can feed student curiosity and grow science knowledge and capabilities.
There are 21 nominees vying for New Zealand Bug of the Year 2026, who will you vote for?
Key dates
Voting opens 1 January.
Get your vote in by midnight 16 February. Results will be announced on 18 February 2026.
For more information and to vote: https://bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz.
This year, nominees hail from the most diverse taxonomic and phylogenetic spread in the competition’s history. There are 21 nominees from 21 genera and 6 phyla.
To vote, you choose up to three of your favourite bugs. More information on each of the nominees is available by clicking on the image on the Bug of the Year homepage.
Previous winners
Ngaro huruhuru – native bee (Leioproctus fulvescens) the first to be crowned New Zealand Bug of the Year in the inaugural event in 2023.
In 2024 it was the turn of kahukura | New Zealand red admiral to get the most votes.
And in 2025 Peripatus/ngāokeoke/Velvet worm was the winner.
Nominees:
Kahuwai | Black Tunnelweb Spider, Porrhothele antipodiana
North Auckland Worm, Spenceriella gigantea
Canterbury Knobbled Weevil, Hadramphus tuberculatus
Blue Damselfly, Austrolestes colensonis
Amber Snail, Succinea archeyi
Tokoriro | Waitomo Cave Wētā, Pachyrhamma waitomoense
Sapphire Spider Fly, Apsona muscaria
Kihikihi | Iolanthe Cicada, Maoricicada iolanthe
Taranga Pill Woodlouse, Cubaris tarangensis
Avatar Moth, Arctesthes avatar
Kouraura wai | Tadpole Shrimp, Lepidurus apus viridis
Hellraiser Mite, Neotrichozetes spinulosa
New Zealand Flatworm, Arthurdendyus triangulatus
Hunchbacked Shelf Wasp, Stylaclista quasimodo
Double-Spined Stick Insect, Micrarchus hystriculeus
Giant Pill Millipede, Procyliosoma tuberculatum
Intertidal Caddisfly, Philanisus plebeius
Otago Alpine Cockroach, Celatoblatta quinquemaculata
Mahoenui Giant Wētā, Deinacrida mahoenui
Hobbit Psyllid, Psylla frodobagginsi
Mata | Seashore Earwig, Anisolabis littorea
Related content
For more on insects, see these key articles:
All about insects – recorded webinar
Label the insect – activity
Identifying bugs – activity
Discover how insects use their antennae in this fascinating article.
The 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. This is a very handy one-stop-place to see all our articles, activties, and a range of media.
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.
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