Of all the bugs New Zealanders could have selected to win an international competition, they chose neither the prettiest, nor the most useful. The NZ velvet worm won this year’s New Zealand Bug of the ...

The New Zealand velvet worm or ngāokeoke has been crowned bug of the year for 2025. The ancient gummy-looking worm, covered in velvety blue colouration and orange spots, is estimated to have been ...

Small bugs of the rain forest have many things to worry about, assuming they are capable of anxiety. But surely some of their more feared predators are velvet worms, a group of ancient animals that ...

From fantastical to frightening, the animals of the Cambrian period—beginning about 540 million years ago—tantalize the imagination. And they just keep getting weirder. A new species of ancient ...