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Wētā is a loanword, from the Māori-language word wētā, which refers to this whole group of large insects; some types of wētā have a specific Māori name. [2] In New Zealand English, it is spelled either "weta" or "wētā", although the form with macrons is increasingly common in formal writing, as the Māori word weta (without macrons) instead means "filth or excrement". [3]
[2] [5] Within this range are nine chromosome races [14] [15] and there are five hybrid zones where six of these races meet. [15] Hawke's Bay tree wētā, Hemideina trewicki Morgan-Richards, 1995 [16] Hawke's Bay. Wellington tree wētā, Hemideina crassidens (Blanchard, 1851) Wellington, the Wairarapa, the northern part of the South Island, and ...
As saddlebacks prey on the wētā during the day, D. heteracantha are thus under constant predation pressure. [16] There is evidence suggesting that these rats have a negative impact on the population of these wētā, as is commonly the case with invasive rodents. [17] The removal of the kiore in 2004 was a success. The population size grew ...
A number of animals prey on the Cook Strait giant wētā, including birds and reptiles such as the tuatara. As a defence against predators the Cook Strait giant wētā will raise its spiked legs over its head and wave them up and down while making a hissing sound by rapidly rubbing together the overlapping plates on its upper body. [9]
Therefore, the wētā is thought to be the effective equivalent of a mouse in New Zealand ecosystems. [12] This is particularly obvious in predation and diet similarities of the wētā and mouse. Therefore, although mice may not directly prey upon wētā, the wētā numbers decrease when mice numbers are high, due to competition.
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 .
An adult Poor Knights giant wētā (Deinacrida fallai) from Aorangi Island, Poor Knights Island group, Northland, New Zealand. Deinacrida fallai was only described as a new species in 1950. [2] It is the second largest wētā species in the world, [2] with females weighing up to 40g and measuring up to 73mm (2.87 inches) in length. [5]
Hemiandrus is a genus of wētā in the family Anostostomatidae. In New Zealand they are known as ground wētā due to their burrowing lifestyle. [1] [2] Hemiandrus wētā are nocturnal, [3] and reside in these burrows during the day. [4] Ground wētā seal the entrance of their burrow during the day with a soil plug or door so that their burrow ...