This year I’m championing Giant Springtails for Bug of the Year, and we need your support!

With one species growing up to a whopping 17 mm long, Holacanthella are the biggest springtails in the world, and are found only in Aotearoa New Zealand. Living on decaying wood in indigenous forests, these adorable little creatures spend their lives grazing on fungi, slime molds and decaying plant material. They play a crucial role in regulating the decomposition of organic matter and nutrient cycling in native bush systems. And, since they only live in undisturbed native forests, they could be useful biological indicators of indigenous forest health. I’m hoping to drum up enough support through this competition to finally get these amazing creatures recognised by New Zealand conservation law, so we need your help!

More information on the competition and voting can be found on the Entomological Society of New Zealand website here.

Free Downloads

To say thanks for voting for the giant springtails, I’ve created these FREE digital wallpaper downloads for your computer or mobile phone. There’s also the free colouring page created by the wonderfully talented Lily Duval, so get those colouring pens out and show off your weird and wonderful springtail colouring scheme ideas!

Links for more info on the Giant Springtail

Entomological Society of NZ’s Bug of the Year 2025 Contestant page: Giant springtails

Wikipedia: Information on Holocanthella

Critter of the Week: The New Zealand Giant Springtail

A Chaos of Delight: Soil animals- springtails, soil mites and mesofauna