What if the insects that end up splattered on your car could actually help scientists study climate change?
That's the idea behind new research from University of Auckland scientists Dr Richard O'Rorke and Dr Aimee van der Reis.
They're leading a team of researchers and collaborators around the country, asking thousands of people to clean insect material off their license plates - all in the name of science.
So what can these unfortunate insects tell us about the health of our ecosystems?
The researchers speak to Emile Donovan.
Car licence plates are being used to gather information about where insects are at present - and how that's changing. Photo:
