The Weta Story  Picture  Resources Photo Gallery   Cave Weta  Ground Weta  Giant Weta  Tree Weta  Tusked Weta   Lots of people really don’t like creepy, crawly things but they can be pretty groovy. Look at them up close, REALLY close and you may discover where movie directors get some of their ideas for weird creatures!   The weta is only found in New Zealand and is sooooo old, it has outlived the dinosaurs! Weta are large by insect standards but some of the giant weta are ENORMOUS and include the heaviest insects in the world The weta is sometimes known as the dinosaur of the insect world The weta is more primitive than the tuatara   The weta has changed very little in the past 100 MILLION YEARS!   Amazing but true ....... Over one hundred years ago there was a scientist whose name was Walter Buller. The government gave him the title of ‘Sir’ because he knew soooo much about wildlife. He wanted to keep some weta for his excellent insect collection so he needed some dead ones. Sir Walter proceeded to kill some weta but it was not that easy…… weta have been around since before the dinosaurs so they must be pretty tough right? RIGHT! One of the wetas was held under water for four days and survived, another survived being dropped into near-boiling water (ouch) and one chewed its way out of Sir Walter's handkerchief!   (Please don't try this at home, remember to care for all wildlife.)   When you grow bigger, you get bigger clothes. When an insect grows bigger, it breaks out of its old skeleton and grows a new and bigger one on the outside of its body. The weta sheds its exoskeleton when moulting, which can make it vulnerable to predators At 18 months the male weta selects a female and they spend six months together sharing the male's territory At around two years old the female will lay 100-300 eggs. The parents will die before the weta eggs hatch 3-5 months later The female Weta can be easily identified by her long ovipositor (it looks like a sting but it isn't - it is for laying eggs)   Weta are not a favorite animal of most people. They are at risk from being eaten by their enemies and they are at risk when some humans are about &endash; Don’t Stand On That Weta! Tuatara are a native predator of the weta. The tuatara is cold blooded, like the weta, and does not pose the same threat as warm blooded predators like the rat. The tuatara will sit and wait for a meal to walk by, unlike rats which seek out their prey and find weta easy game, especially when they become inactive in cold weather. Before people arrived in NZ  the weta had few predators. Then people came with predators like rats, cats and dogs. Weta are at risk from being eaten by rats, trampling by stock and killed by fire when forest is burned to make farmland. Weta are nocturnal, which means they are active at night. During the day, weta hide from predators such as rats and birds.   Some weta are in danger of becoming extinct, such as the Middle Island Tusked Weta. The Department of Conservation is studying this weta. They need to learn more about it so they can save it from extinction. You can help to save the weta from extinction by treading carefully and putting weta somewhere safe if you find them on the path. There are two families of weta in New Zealand. One family contains the Cave Weta. The other family contains the Giant, Tusked, Tree and Ground Weta.   The Weta information was written in July 1999.

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