Behold: big bug lady

If you want to get your hands on this gorgeous wētāpunga sticker, come find me at Wellington Armageddon 2026! @unconventionalvoidaxolotls and I are hosting a bug-themed stamp rally and this (as part of a collaborative sticker sheet) is one of the prizes :)

Wētā fun facts below the cut:

AKA mānuka myrtle, New Zealand teatree, and broom tea-tree. 'scoparium' refers to the supposed resemblance to Broom. The Māori name mānuka comes from Proto-Polynesian *nukanuka or *nuka which refers to Decaspermum fructicosum which has similar small white flowers.

Leptospermum scoparium probably evolved in SE Australia, where its multiple evolved protections against bushfire and terrible soil quality would have been quite useful, but at some point in the last 20 million years they got across the Tasman to New Zealand and the Chatham Islands, where they weren't very common until humans arrived and generously applied more fire, and forest-clearing. It's now much more common in NZ than in Australia.

Its nectar is the source of Mānuka honey.