Mark Anderson

In 2013, this was the state of funding for critically endangered invertebrates in NZ, when we translocated 30 ngaio weevils - In 2025, we are getting noticed a little more because lovely conservationists from across the world are voting for the ngaio weevil at shorturl.at/7ZASu Join us!

Tūī bird feeding on native karo tree flowers

More introduced plant species on schoolgrounds in Auckland than native species. doi.org/10.1016/j.uf...
Native species add biodiversity & cultural co-benefits than introduced species don't add. Use local species!! 🌏🧪https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2752-664X/ad3f22/meta

ngaio weevil with Steve Martin from Roxanne movie

Vote for one insect at bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz/vote-here-20... to help save this species!

This species is in the New Zealand 'Bug of the Year' competition. Vote here to help raise its profile: bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz/vote-here-20...

This is one of NZ's rarest species - the ngaio weevil, browsing on ngaio leaves that are toxic to almost all species. There are only around 300 on one island, Takapourewa in the Marlborough Sounds. Background sound is some of the million seabirds that live on the island.

#NewZealand #BugOfTheYear voting is now open! I'm campaigning for the #FrostedPhoenix moth. Missing for 65yrs and thought extinct it was "rediscovered" in 2024. Vote for this amazing moth here bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz/vote-here-20...

A ngaio weevil on a ngaio leaf on Takapourewa, NZ

Do you want to make a huge impact on the conservation of a critically endangered species in 2025? Voting for the ngaio weevil in the NZ Bug of the Year shorturl.at/WOvMe will get it precious publicity + possibly funding to help find out what it needs to recover........Please share to save a species!

and 1.3 g for some females, almost as heavy as the smallest mammal!

Thank you. Fortunately, the currents around Takapourewa have stopped introduced rodents arriving, and we now have good biosecurity to help protect them.

Takapourewa, an island in Cook Strait, NZ

This is Takapourewa,an island in Cook Strait, NZ. Home to a million seabirds, 30,000 tuatara, around 250 ngaio weevils, a frog and insect species only found there. Ngāti Koata and DOC work together to protect and restore this amazing place.

A photo collage of the 2025 bug of the year nominees.

The long wait is over- #Bug of the Year 2025 nominee list is now live! Voting opens January 1st, so you have until February to decide on your top three nominees & place your votes! Winner announced on Valentine’s Day! 💚 Who will steal the crown from Kahukura?
bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz/2025-bug-of-...

New Zealand has a bug of the year - we include the snails, velvet worms, spiders and springtails too - my own favourite is a large flightless weevil, the ngaio weevil.........https://bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz/

Yes, its been up for a few days now....

ngaio weevil

Entomological Society of NZ has its third celebration of invertebrates beginning today - I will be campaigning for the ngaio weevil, a large (30 mm) flightless weevil found on one island in Aotearoa/NZ bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz

Carabus granulatus, a large predatory ground beetle of fens and wet grasslands. Mowing, grazing & inundation make floodplain hay meadows a challenging habitat for many insects but this is one of the resident species, sometimes present in large numbers.

Necklace Ground-beetle, Carabus monilis. A large predatory carabid w a restricted range in western Europe, this species has declined severely in Britain and is now categorised as Endangered. Although recorded from a range of open habitats, most recent records seem to be from unimproved grasslands.

I am now widening my search area on Takaka Hill to try to get a better grip on its distribution and am planning with Te Papa Atawhai/Department of Conservation to improve its population. Very exciting to be able to work with incredibly rare species like this!

Mecodema strictum, a ground beetle at Harwoods Hole, NZ

I have been volunteering since 2023 to see if this unassuming ground beetle, Mecodema strictum is still present at Harwoods Hole, NZ, where it has only been recorded eight times. I have now added another eight records by pitfall trapping and ground searching!

Yes, will definitely look out for them!

Frank, are you surveying Canaan Downs? It has a couple of unique beetle species restricted to the area and I am up there for a week in December carrying out a survey for one of them for the Department of Conservation. It could have unique giant springtails too?

Photo compilation of all the 20 nominees for Bug of the Year Aotearoa 2024

The Entomology Society of New Zealand has just launched their second annual Bug of the Year! Here are your 20 nominees for 2024! Voting opens on 1st January 💚 🧪🪲🕷️Take a look here:
bugoftheyear.ento.org.nz/2024-bug-of-...

Canaan Downs Scenic Reserve

Mecodema crenicolle, a ground beetle

I now have 200 pitfall traps in the ground in two locations to monitor TWO nationally critical groind beetle species and two undescribed ones! Photos show the project at Harwoods Hole, near Nelson, NZ, to find Mecodema strictum, seen twice in around 60 years.