University of Otago zoology department senior lecturer Dr Jenny Jandt said the Entomological Society’s Bug of the Year competition was based on the popular Bird of the Year competition run by Forest & Bird.
For the inaugural competition, 24 bugs had been collected, all of which could be found in New Zealand, Dr Jandt said.
Voting started on November 14 and would run until February 13, with about 7500 votes being cast so far.
People could vote for up to three bugs, and the one with the most outright votes would win.
A pollination workshop co-organised by Dr Jandt at Tuhura Otago Museum on Saturday opened to the public to help promote the competition.
The response to the competition had been "so positive", Dr Jandt said.
"It was really fun seeing people who were not immersed in the world of entomology getting involved and tweeting out memes in support of their chosen critters."
The competition was heating up and there had already been "fighting words" between some of the factions.
"Its been a lot of fun," Dr Jandt said.
She had recently completed her PhD on stick insects, and would be defending it next year.
"I just love them — they’re like the perfect insect to introduce to people,
"They’re like the coolest, chillest insect ever, all they ever want to do is just hang out," Ms Merien said.
They had spines, were a little bit creepy looking and most children had a really positive reaction to them — despite some parents being taken aback.
Bugs tended to be quite misunderstood, but they underpinned everything and were incredibly important to the world’s ecosystems, Ms Merien said.
She hoped the competition would bring them the attention they deserved.
New Zealand had about 150 species of bird and 20,000 species of bugs, many of which there was little known about.
