Insects
Expert feature: blood-sucking insects and creepy-crawlies
It's getting warmer out there...which means there could soon be an influx of white-tail spiders in your home, bed-bugs in your bedroom, fleas on your pets, and mosquitoes and sandflies pretty much… Audio
John Hart on why he's farming crickets in the Wairarapa
This time last year, Wairarapa farmer and technology consultant, John Hart, was considering crickets as a potential food source for chickens, when he realised they were much too expensive and would be… Audio
The lives of insects, weird, wonderful and astonishing
There are more than 200 million insects for every person in the world. Insects outnumber all the grains of sand on all the beaches around the globe and without them, humanity is doomed. Anne… Video, Audio
Giant willow aphids - a sticky invasive nuisance
Scion entomologists are trialling a parasitic wasp that they hope will control a growing nuisance: the giant willow aphid. Audio
Jenny Jandt: why we should love wasps and ants
University of Otago insect researcher Dr Jenny Jandt is in love with creatures most of us try to exterminate - wasps and ants. She's known as the Wasp Lady and says there's much to be admired in both… Audio, Gallery
Dragonflies - masters of flight
Dragonflies are precision flying machines, and Ruary Mackenzie Dodds says they are an indicator of clean water. Audio
Our Changing World for 29 March 2018
Dragonflies are exquisite flying machines with an ancient history, and high temperature superconductor research that includes superconductor sandwiches. Audio
Meet Lusius malfoyi, a parasitoid wasp
Tom Saunders has named a native parasitoid wasp after a Harry Potter character, in a bid to improve the reputation of these 'good' wasps. Audio
Our Changing World for 22 March 2018
Among New Zealand's many species of parasitoid wasps is one named after a Harry Potter character, and information from a smart buoy in Wellington harbour is now freely available online. Audio
Insects galore - Peter Johns' insect collection
Six decades of collecting insects Audio, Gallery
Improving the reputation of creepy crawlies
Bugs and creepy crawlies may not be something you want to hear about over your breakfast, but Auckland Zoo is on a mission to get us all to feel a little more inclined to tiny little critters that… Audio, Gallery
Which are the best fly sprays?
Belinda Castles shares the Consumer NZ findings on fly sprays. Audio
Laser strike: controlling insects using lasers
The Photonic Fence is a laser fly swat that never misses the mark. Using powerful cameras, this hi-tech bug zapper scans for pests and by measuring their size, shape, speed and wing-beat frequency in… Audio, Gallery
How light pollution hurts bugs
Are your lit up skies affecting the population of insects. Audio
The Super Smell Sensor
New Zealand scientists are using special smell sensing proteins harvested from the cloned cells of insect antennae to develope a super smell sensor. They hope to use them as part of a device which… Audio
Insects remarkably preserved in New Zealand amber
Amber is beautiful to look at - and it is also an incredible window into the prehistoric past. Audio
Bugs for breakfast?
There's a growing interest in breeding and consuming bugs as a more eco-friendly and sustainable protein source than farmed meat. Malcolm Diack is a locust farmer breeding what he calls "sky prawns"… Audio, Gallery
Ghosts of Gondwana
Trying to make sense of New Zealand's flora and fauna has kept entomologist, George Gibbs, occupied for six decades. Audio, Gallery
NZ's pollination population
Pollination makes the world go round, and plants in New Zealand have evolved clever strategies to get the pollination services they require. Audio
The Genius of Bugs
Canterbury University bug expert, Simon Pollard has just released a new children's book on bugs, to coincide with Te Papa's new exhibition, Bug Lab - for which he was the science advisor. His book… Audio, Gallery