Wētā (also spelled weta in English) is the common name for a group of about 100 insect species in the families Anostostomatidae and Rhaphidophoridae endemic to New Zealand. They are giant flightless crickets, and some are among the heaviest insects in the world.

Jun 9, 2015 · The giant weta is one of the biggest insects on Earth, easily dwarfing most bugs and even some small rodents. Here are 10 facts you probably don't know about this New Zealand native.

The eggs can hatch in as little as a month or remain in the soil through­out the winter, hatching some time the following spring or summer into tiny, jumping baby weta which scat­ter to make their own lives in the surrounding vegetation.

Wētā are incredible looking creatures. They range in size, but with their big bodies, spiny legs, and curved tusks, they are one of New Zealand's most recognisable creepy-crawlies.

Sep 14, 2015 · The tree weta, which looks like a cricket, is not cricket sized, it is the heaviest confirmed insect on earth. Males throw that weight around fighting for females, mostly by trying to dismember ...

She lays her eggs inside curled up dead leaves or on rotten logs. These eggs take about 125 days to hatch and the nymphs (baby weta) come out looking like tiny mini adult weta. These nymphs will take, on average, two years to fully mature - the female wētā will start breading 1-2 months after reaching maturity.

May 27, 2024 · The Giant Weta is a type of weta insect only found and restricted to New Zealand. Although the Weta is itself quite a large insect, some species of Giant Weta are the largest insects in the world.

As others have said, it's a katydid nymph, Caedicia simplex.Adult males of this species make the quiet "snip. snippa-snip" that you might hear coming from trees/shrubs in the evening, though it's quite high frequency so often people don't seem to hear it very well.

Hemideina crassidens, commonly known as the Wellington tree wētā, is a large, flightless, nocturnal insect in the family Anostostomatidae. This wētā species is endemic to New Zealand and populates regions in the southern half of North Island/Te Ika a Maui and the north-west of the South Island/Te Wai Pounamu.

Jul 25, 2024 · Unlike most insects, weta do not have wings. Weta can produce a chirping sound by rubbing their hind legs against their body. Their name, “weta,” means “god of ugly things” in Māori. Females can lay up to 300 eggs at a time. Weta has …