Title photo by Mike Locke

There are over 70 species of wētā in New Zealand

There are eleven species of giant wētā, most of which are larger than other wētā, despite the latter also being large by insect standards

The name wētā comes from the Maori word wētāpunga, or “God of Ugly Things” .The genus name, Deinacrida, means “Terrible Grasshopper.”

The giant wētā’s close relatives include the Carnivorous Tusked Wētā, the Tree Wētā, and the Cave Wētā

Giant wētā are endemic to New Zealand and all but one species are protected by law because they are considered at risk of extinction

New Zealand Giant Weta by Ricky Wilson

The largest species of Giant Wētā is the Little Barrier Island giant wētā, also known as the wētāpunga. One example reported in 2011 weighed 71 g (2.50 oz)

[Deinacrida mahoenui] is endemic to the area of Mahoenui, New Zealand, and the world population for some time was restricted to a single patch of introduced gorse on farmland.

Deinacrida mahoenui [MAHOENUI GIANT WETA] by Zoomology

Large species can be up to 10 cm (4 in), not inclusive of legs and antennae, with body mass usually no more than 35 g (1.2 oz). One gravid captive female reached a mass of about 70 g (2.47 oz), making it one of the heaviest insects in the world and heavier than a sparrow. This is, however, abnormal, as this individual was unmated and retained an abnormal number of eggs

Many giant wētā species are alpine specialists. Five species are only found at high elevation in South Island. The scree wētā D. connectens lives about 1,200 m (3,900 ft) above sea level [8] and freezes solid when temperatures drop below −5 °C (23 °F)

Deinacrida connectens

Fossils found from the Triassic period 190 million years ago show striking similarities to the wētā that inhabit New Zealand today

Handsome Devil!

Giant Weta - Maori “God Of Ugly Things” by Owen Calder

Sources Giant Wētā, Deinacrida mahoenui, Deinacrida connectens, and Mental Floss

    • quinacridoneOP
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      10 months ago

      Though it looks like a big cricket, giant weta are too heavy to fly. Some of its relatives, like the tree weta, are more agile and can jump, but giant weta are decidedly earth-bound via mental floss

  • ivanafterall@kbin.social
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    10 months ago

    So there is a non-zero chance of finding this in your bed in New Zealand? I used to want to visit New Zealand.

    • quinacridoneOP
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      10 months ago

      I only saw the weta at night in the woods, so I think you’ll be safe…maybe check your sleeping bag if you’re wild camping, unless you fancy the company (or a light, illegal snack)

  • jrest18n@lemm.ee
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    10 months ago

    I walked into several caves absolutely crawling with these things when I was in NZ.

  • Zomg@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    Ah, I see spider crickets/ cave crickets are trying to rebrand themselves…

    But really, that just looks like large versions of those bugs, I’m gonna need a bigger glue trap… 😬

  • pseudo@jlai.lu
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    10 months ago

    Arrivé à cette taille, je n’appelle plus ça un insecte mais un crustacé. Les photo rappellent clairement des crevettes ou les écrevisses.
    Je me pose donc tout naturellement la question : Ça se mange ?

    • quinacridoneOP
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      10 months ago

      C’est une espèce protégée, mais je ne sais pas si les maoris peuvent l’avoir mangé dans le passé

      via google translate

      • pseudo@jlai.lu
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        10 months ago

        I couldn’t figure out how to speak about shell-non-fish so I went with french. Thank you for taking time to answer me in french (^_^)

        • quinacridoneOP
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          10 months ago

          You’re welcome, fortunately Google came to the rescue…Incidentally, how does Google perform with translations? I’m always concerned it’s going to produce gibberish

          • pseudo@jlai.lu
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            10 months ago

            Translation btw French and English and most european languages are more than fine. Some idiomatic expressions won’t translate perfectly and maybe in long textes or maybe a very complicated sentences, they will be a grammar mistake that makes you read a second time but that’s it. However if one or both the language are neither from romance or germanic languages, the translation are very poor at best.
            I’ve tried to translate thing from Arabic or Mandarin Chinese, I can barely get what I want for one or two world. Russian seems to make sense up to the sentence. But it’s hard to evaluate the quality of the translation when you don’t speak both languages.

            • quinacridoneOP
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              10 months ago

              Thanks for the information, maybe with time AI will help with improving translations? I do always add the caveat of ’ via Google translate’ or similar, just in case it turns out really bad

              • pseudo@jlai.lu
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                10 months ago

                From my understanding these tools are using AI from the start but sure by staking one AI technology on top of another AI technology we will see interesting result.