BoTY – Invertebrate Behavioural Ecology Lab

New Zealand Bug of The Year Competition

This year the the Entomological Society of New Zealand has decided to sponsor the FIRST ever NZ Bug of the Year 2023 in an effort to get everyone excited about the wonderful world of insects! Similar to Forest and Bird’s Bird of the Year competition, different nominees are chosen each year and we, the public, get to decide who the best of the best is. And with over 20,000 known insect and spider species in Aotearoa, the NZ Bug of the Year competition is a also great way to learn more about these awesome bugs! The voting will open on the 14th of November 2022 and the winner will announced next year on the 14th of February 2023.

This year there are 24 nominees all vying for the prestigious title of NZ Bug of the Year. However, there is one insect we here at the Invertebrate Behavioural Ecology Lab favour above all the other nominees: the one and only New Zealand giraffe weevil (tuwhaipapa, Lasiorhynchus barbicornis). I mean only someone very odd would not vote for the weirdly cute giraffe weevil and that honour goes to our resident spider nerd and PhD candidate Simon Connolly. So that means everyone else will just have to vote #TeamGiraffeWeevil.

If you’d like to learn more aboutthe competition and its other (less exciting) nominees go to bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz. There you’ll also find information on how to add your vote to NZ Bug of the Year 2023. Don’t hesitate! Go join in on the fun and vote for Aotearoa’s best bug: The New Zealand giraffe weevil!

Follow our campaign and help us encourage more people to vote #teamgiraffeweevil on social media @cpaintingnz. (Don’t forget to use #BugOfTheYear2023 and tag @NZEntoSoc).