Selwyn_Times: June 29, 2022

Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Pinup contestant launches
vintage extravaganza
• By Susan Sandys
RETROSPECTIVE: Sharvelle Mackay is launching a
nationwide vintage festival that will be held at Lincoln
Event Centre in September.
FORMER MISS Pinup New
Zealand contestant Sharvelle
Mackay of Rolleston is
launching a new nationwide
annual vintage festival.
Expected to attract up to 4000
people from across New Zealand,
the inaugural Vintage Fest
NZ will be held September 24 at
Lincoln Event Centre.
“It is New Zealand’s newest
vintage extravaganza, where we
will celebrate and commemorate
the years gone by,” Mackay said.
New events will be a Miss
Vintage Australasia pinup competition
and evening Victory
Dance, from which proceeds
will go to the military charity
Te Kiwi Māia. There will also be
a pre-1969 classic and vintage
vehicle show, sizeable military
display, vintage and classic car
show, pageants, photography
competition and displays, live
music, stalls, food and a mini
vintage carnival.
Mackay said she and fellow
committee members were
pleased to have the support of
the district council for the event.
The Miss Vintage Australasia
would be an international pageant,
bringing in entries from
across the Tasman, thereby creating
connections between New
Zealand and Australian vintage
communities.
“I have already been invited
to judge over in Australia at
Chrome Fest as part of launching
Vintage Fest NZ, which is
very exciting,” Mackay said.
Mackay is a long-time fan of
all things vintage. Last year she
was runner-up at the nationwide
Miss Pinup New Zealand
pageant, where she competed as
Miss Chevy Chevelle.
BACKYARD CRITTERS
NEWS 11
Mike Bowie is an ecologist who specialises in
entomology (insects and other invertebrates).
Each week he introduces a new species found
in his backyard at Lincoln. His column aims
to raise public awareness of biodiversity, the
variety of living things around us. Check out
the full list of invertebrates found at www.
inaturalist.org/projects/backyard-biodiversity-bugs-in-mylincoln-section
THE TERM “bug” is confusing,
as to many people it means all
insects or even invertebrates.
However, to an entomologist,
true bugs or Hemiptera are only
a small subset of all insects.
They all possess a piercing and
sucking mouthpart, usually for
feeding on plant sap.
Hemiptera include species
such as aphids, cicadas,
planthoppers, leafhoppers
and shield bugs. There are
some non-plant sucking
Hemiptera including
bed bugs and others that
prey on insects.
A vegetarian example
commonly seen in the summer is
the wheat bug or Nysius huttoni.
It is a New Zealand endemic,
widely distributed throughout
North and South Islands, as well
as Chatham and Three Kings
Islands. More recently it has been
found in England, Belgium, and
the Netherlands.
The wheat bug is known from
sea level to 1800m altitude, in
Wednesday June 29 2022 Selwyn Times
What defines a ‘bug’
diverse areas including gardens,
lawns, weedy fields, orchards,
roadsides, pasture, wastelands,
and riverbeds.
It can potentially be found anywhere
where sparse vegetation
allows sun to reach the
ground. Adult wheat bugs
are 2.4 to 4.5mm in length
and dull brownish grey in
colour.
The wheat bug is a
polyphagous species
feeding on more than
75 plant species including
cereals, vegetables,
weeds, and horticultural
plants. It can be a major
pest of brassica seedlings including
kale, rape, turnip and swede,
and can be a huge problem in
wheat also.
These bugs inject saliva
containing enzymes into foods to
liquidise the contents to ingest.
When feeding on wheat grains
the enzymes alter the gluten
protein severely reducing its
baking quality and marketability.
LOCAL ELECTIONS 2022
Thinking about standing in the 2022 local elections?
Attend a candidate information workshop, held 7–8.30pm:
· Wednesday 29 June at Darfield Recreation Centre
· Thursday 30 June at Council offices, Rolleston
· Tuesday 5 July at Leeston Library.
Nominations for candidates in the
local elections open between
15 July and 12 August.
Visit selwyn.govt.nz/elections for more information.