Weta Report - Term 3

      This is a piece of writing that we did for our minibeast topic when we were learning about weta. We had to write an information report on this insect.

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Wētā  Of Aotearoa

What is a wētā?

Wētā are a native insect to New Zealand/Aotearoa. Wētā are invertebrates and they have an exoskeleton. An invertebrate is a creature that has its skeleton on the outside. They don’t have a spine at all. Wētā are similar to crickets. They have six legs and a pair of Antenna. They have ears just below the front joint of their knees. They have a thorax and abdomen. People think wētā look very ugly. This is why Maori called them punga which is the spirit of ugliness. There are five main types of wētā but there are over 70 species.

Although wētā might not look pretty they are an important native insect.

Where do they live?

Wētā Live in many different places. Tree wētā live in the hollow of trees and logs. Some even live in your wood pile. Cave wētā live in sea coast caves and hollow tree trunks. Ground wētā burrow into the ground and tusked wētā do the same. Wētā reverse into holes so they can attack a rival wētā.

How do they eat?

Some weta are carnivorous and some and herbivores but they are all omnivores. Giant wētā and Tree wētā are mostly herbivores and eat seed heads, lichen, fruits and flowers but they will eat meat if it is absolutely necessary. Tusked and Cave wētā are mostly carnivores and will eat tiny invertebrates and slugs and snails but they will eat fruit if all the meat is gone. All wētā are omnivores ( omnivores eat both meat and fruit ).

How do wētā reproduce?

In late Kōanga/spring and early Raumati/summer the wētā mate. Male wētā have to fight off other males with his jaws and spiky legs so they don’t mate with his partner. In Ngahuru/autumn the eggs are laid at 6-10 at a time. 300 eggs are laid in a female’s lifetime. The following spring the baby wētā emerge from their eggs and grow into adult wētā. The babies have to shed their skin nine times before it is an adult wētā. The females breed in alpine environments, urban gardens, grasslands and shrublands.

Are wētā social?

Wētā rub their spiky legs together to create a chirping sound and that is a form of communication.  Tree wētā live in groups called galleries. All the other species of wētā live on their own.

Threats

People from Europe brought in mice, cats, hedgehogs, ferrets and stoats and they all eat our wētāpunga. Before they got here only our tuatara and birds ate wētāpunga. Humans destroyed their native habitat causing their numbers to drop. In order to protect wētā in the future we need to look after their habitat.

Bye Emma Ballingall

Photos Of The Wētāpunga