Is it true that there is a relative paucity of insects in New Zealand?

Question

I'm not trying to be funny, my aunt told me this after returning from a Rugby tournament in which her husband played and assured us that there's very few insects. I find this hard to believe as my aunt is dumb as a lamp post.

Answer 1

False. Google New Zealand and check it out.

Answer 2

please don't insult lamp posts

Answer 3

New Zealand has large (non-flying) insects. Certain species found there way to New Zealand and have kept out alot of other species from the area. Therefore the populatino of insects in the area are minimal, but the ones you do see withh freak you out! LOL! Check out this site I used for my source!

Answer 4

Well I have never been there, but New Zealand has mild temperatures, and moderately high rainfall. New Zealand’s insect fauna is very diverse (18,000+ species), not only is there a wide range of archaic endemic species present but there is also a considerable number of introduced species that have come into the country via overseas cargo imports. In addition, many insects are blown across from Australia on high altitude jet streams (wind). An example is the summer arrival of migratory butterflies such as the Australian painted lady , on the west coast of New Zealand. Consequently it is not surprising that there is quite a variety of Australasian insects established here.

Answer 5

hey dont your toilets swirl the other way down there. that is some messed up sh@t, let me tell ya. also what is with all the sheep?

Answer 6

We have tons of insects.  You just don't see them all as they are small.  We have over 20,000 species of insects.

Answer 7

true

Answer 8

Are you my cousin, Jen??  I caught our aunt in the tanning bed with her socks on once......

Answer 9

NZ has a bunch of disgusting huge scary insects (wetas) you can check em out at the museum theres a whole bunch of different ones. But theyre mainly found in the bush, way, way away from suburbs and stuff. Otherwise its mainly little spiders or whatever. Theres only one poisonous one, the one with  a white spot on it. It was crawling on my face once, not a great experience.

Answer 10

I believe your Aunt may be correct...

Answer 11

Being a New Zealaander who now lives in Australia New Zealand doesn't have nearly as many insects as Australia but also New Zealand has a lot of birds that like to eat the insects. So they do have them. There are flies, more in summer, hardly ever see one in Winter and down the west Coast they get swarms of sand flies So really your Aunt was lucky she didn't see them. Let's hope her trip opened up her mind and she's not as dumb as you say now. hehe

Answer 12

the reason noone is answering your question mate is because its a wierd question and most people dont know what the h**l your talking about.

Answer 13

Ask a Kiwi...

Answer 14

There certainly seem to be less insects here than in some places. Relatively low temperatures and a windy island climate contribute to this. The actual occurrence of insects is not unusually low though, it's just that they don't really factor much in our daily lives, aren't that noticeable.

Answer 15

Never been therre couldn't help you?