New Zealand Insects

New Zealand has many interesting insects and most of those are only found only here, including the world's heaviest insect - the Giant Weta.

Insects are very important as they provide food for the like of lizards, fish, bats and birds. They pollinate plants, help decompose organic material into compounds that feed plants, and control populations of other insects.

An example of co dependence between species is that the extinct huia (bird) had its own louse. That louse became extinct with the huia and was only discovered recently on the skins of extinct huia specimens. The feathers of the huia were prized by Maori for adornment and were then fashionable for women's hats here and in England, so the huia were hunted for fashion. New Zealand's bats also have an mite dependant on them and each of our bat species, our only native mammals, are now threatened with extinction. Our bats are the pollinator's of the threatened and very rare woodrose.

We will also include spiders, slugs, mites and other terrestrial invertebrates (no bones) in this section for now. Page three has the highest resolution images. Note that some of these insects are immigrants.

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Weta insect of New ZealandGiant bush dragonfly of New Zealand
Metalic Green Ground Beetle insect of New Zealand
Weta
Carabidae © NHC
The following photos © generously provided by Steve Reekie
Spider and praying mantis insects of New Zealand
Stick insect - Attributes of two species
Praying mantis insects of New Zealand
Spider & praying mantis
Dragonfly damselfly insects of New Zealand
African (top) & New Zealand Preying mantis
Cicada insects of New Zealand
Blue Damselfly (Kekewai) Largest of six NZ species of damselfly
Snail and slater wood louse insects of New Zealand
Garden snail and slater
Earwig and eggs insects of New Zealand
Chorus Cicada - Amphipsalta zealandica
Grasshopper insects of New Zealand
Earwig
Fly insects of New Zealand
Grasshopper
Four spined weevil insects of New Zealand
A fly
Tunnelweb spider of New Zealand
Four Spined Weevil - Scolopterus sp
Giraffe weevil insects of New Zealand
Tunnelweb spider (female) - Porrhethele antipodiana
Giraffe Weevil
Fly insects of New Zealand
Green vegetable bug insects of New Zealand
Gadfly
Green Vegetable Bug
Stick insects of New Zealand
Dragonfly damselfly insects of New Zealand
Kekewai
Spiny Stick Insect
Hahoe moth insects of New Zealand
Mayfly insects of New Zealand
Mayflies (Order Ephemeroptera)
Mahoe Stripper - Feredayia graminosa