A slime-spitting creature with a velvety blue body has crawled out of the Caversham undergrowth to claim the prestigious Bug of the Year title.
The ngāokeoke (New Zealand velvet worm) squirmed past tough competition from a praying mantis, a moth and a stick insect to wear the crown of New Zealand's top insect for 2025.
Tūhura Otago Museum natural science collections technician On Lee Lau was thrilled with the win after leading a campaign for the local favourite.
“Amidst strong competition, we are thrilled to secure the win for the velvet worm and help raise awareness of these cherished native creatures,”
Described as "deadly assassins", the ancient invertebrates use supersoaker nozzles on either side of their head to douse their victim in a torrent of sticky slime that slowly dissolves their prey into soup.
They reside among the undergrowth in New Zealand's bush, urban parks and gardens, particularly in the bushy reserves of Caversham, near the Dunedin Southern Motorway, where a dense cluster of them live.
Dunedin became a global hotspot for velvet worm conservation after local resident Dave Randle discovered hundreds of velvet worms living in his Caversham garden in 1988, prompting the creation of the first reserve to protect the velvet worm and setting a precedent for conservation efforts in New Zealand.
In 2012, the Southern Motorway expansion threatened their habitat, but thanks to a passionate campaign by Mr Randle and the local community, plans were altered to preserve the velvet worms and provide alternate habitats before construction began.
Bug of the Year committee member Connal McLean said the competition was a "super close race" this year.
"The praying mantis was only 110 votes behind the worm out of nearly 25,000 votes,” he said
“The competitors this year were really diverse: we had insects, spiders, snails, slugs, springtails and much more. It is the first time the competition has featured nominees each from a unique taxonomic family.”
The whē (New Zealand praying mantis) came second, while another unusual forest dweller – the giant springtail – took third place. The ātaka (exquisite Olearia owlet moth) and the rō (giant stick insect) came in fourth and fifth, respectively.
