It's the last day to cast your vote for New Zealand's #BugoftheYear2026! You can choose up to three of your favourite nominees. You can vote from anywhere - you just need to vote by midnight NZT.

bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz

A photograph of a hard-bodied mite, covered in long, spiky bristles.

"We have such mites to show you"

Today is the last day to vote in the 2026 Bug of the Year contest!

Vote now for the Hellraiser Mite: bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz/vote-here-20...

P.S. There is also a giant earthworm worthy of your love (you get 3 votes) 🪱

#BugOfTheYear #BugOfTheYear2026 🧪

A composite image on a white background, from top top, left to right, the header in purple text reads “Bug of the Year”, under that on the left side, two simplified images of a woodlouse, curled into a ball and walking, with pairs of green leaves. Then on the right a large QR code which links to the Bug of the Year election. Then at left side, a red heart, under that purple text reading Taranga Pill Woodlouse and in the bottom right corner, a cropped cartoonified pillbug pointing up to the QR code with one leg and a text balloon reading “Vote for me!”

Today is the last day to vote in Aotearoa’s #BugoftheYear2026 election. Let’s see a surge of support for the Taranga Pill Woodlouse! This endemic underdog crustacean is the cutest, most pro-environment, family-minded candidate we’ll see all year. Voting link: bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz/vote-here-20...

Painting by Pete Amato. In the centre of the top half of the painting, is the head and shoulders of a feminine figure with longish purple silver hair splaying out around her. Her eyes are entirely white and she has a green moko kauae on her lips and chin. Her shoulders are covered with a cloak (korowai), decorated with spirals (koru) and saw-edged triangle (niho taniwha), representing new beginnings and strength. To her left are blue green waves, above them darkness, stars and a moon in shadow. Directly above her sits a full moon. To her right float little islands with a tree above them, their roots dangling. Above them sits another half moon, this one sitting in a purple wispy sky. The bottom half of the painting is dominated by a stepped motif symbolising the gain on knowledge (poutama) in the background and a crescent shaped motif (kape) that represents the glow of the moon in the foreground. Long earthworms twist around a fish hook (hei matau). To the bottom and left, twists a dark purple eel. The painting's dominant colours are purple, grey, blue and green.

Not voted in the #BugoftheYear2026 competition? We commissioned Wairoa artist Pete Amato (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa) to show why we think the North Auckland Worm deserves your vote. Check out his amazing painting - Hīnātore! It's only a little smaller than the worm itself :) 1/n

#NZ Just to keep things lively, relaying on Canterbury Museum’s vote for #bugoftheyear #bugoftheyear2026

🪲💪 “The Canterbury knobbled weevil is our pick for New Zealand Bug of the Year 2026 because it is a true survivor. It was presumed extinct for over 80 years and then rediscovered in 2004.”

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Have you voted for #BugoftheYear2026?!? You can listen to the interview I did with OAR FM Dunedin - Community Access Media for more inspiration.
accessmedia.nz/player...