Submission deadline for 2025 nominees is 1 july, 2024

YOU can recommend your favourite “bug” to be a nominee for Bug of the Year! And, you can recommend as many bugs as you want! (just “refresh” your page after you hit “submit”). Note that winners of Bug of the Year are not eligible to be a nominee in future competitions.

Start by letting us know who you are, and then fill in the details about your recommended bug. If your recommendation is selected to be a nominee, we may use the information you provide on our Bug of the Year website to promote that nominee (click here for an example).

Submissions will be selected in a manner to maximize taxonomic diversity among the nominees. We announce the nominees at the Entomological Society of New Zealand Conference and via email.

If you want to see your recommendation as a nominee, please fill out as much information as possible.

Please note: Your email address will ONLY be used for discussions regarding your recommendation for a Bug of the Year 2024 Nominee.
Note: Only species that can be found in NZ will be considered. If you clicked "yes" to this question, please ensure at least one of the image links is from a NZ observation. If you clicked no, we will not consider this recommendations as a nominee.
Note: We will consider all submissions, but preference will go to endemic and native species.
Provide the url, preferably available as Creative Commons (CC - any) for use. At least one image should be an observation recorded in New Zealand. Wikipedia and iNaturalist.nz are both excellent sources for CC images, but you are not restricted to using images from only those sites. If you would like guidance on how to make your own images available as Creative Commons, contact us at BugoftheYear@ento.org.nz.
A second image is not required, but the more info you can provide, the better. Provide the url, preferably available as Creative Commons (CC - any) for use.
What is the basic biology and ecology of this species? What are some neat facts? See examples from 2023 for inspiration. If you use material from another source, please provide the reference url of that source.
Preferably for the species, but genus or family is fine. Try to find a page for the lowest taxonomic level
If you choose "yes" or "I don't know" - we will contact you at the email address provided above.
You can leave this field blank if you want.

Ngaro Huruhuru – Native Bee (Leioproctus fulvescens) is the FIRST to be crowned New Zealand Bug of the Year 2023!!!