337:, and can involve the male travelling over 250 metres in a single night. Once located, the male places a leg over the female's body and maintains contact until a daytime refuge is found. Here, mating occurs throughout the day and, if the weather is cool and wet, possibly throughout the night as well. The female subsequently lays around 200 eggs in the soil and dies. The eggs develop for a few months and hatch in the spring, with the juvenile wētā emerging fully developed. It takes most of the Cook Strait giant wētā's two-year lifespan to reach the full adult size, with growth taking place in a series of about nine moults over a 12- to 18-month period.
369:
107:
286:, reaching up to 7 centimetres (2.8 in) long. The brownish-yellow body is bulky and heavily armoured, with the upper surface covered by a series of thickened, overlapping plates, which have black markings. Relative to the size of the head, the jaws are large, and the elongated hind legs have five or six large spines, and can be raised above the head in defence. The female is significantly larger than the male, and both sexes lack wings.
62:
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360:), and the clearance of much of its habitat, led to the contraction of its range to just a few small, "rat-free" islands in the Cook Strait. A combination of its ground-dwelling lifestyle, large size, and strong scent make it particularly vulnerable to predation, and therefore, accidental introductions of mammalian predators to the offshore islands could be catastrophic for its survival.
322:
The Cook Strait giant wētā is nocturnal and feeds on the aerial parts of plants. During the day it conceals itself amongst grass in a temporary refuge that it makes in the soil surface, or under dead leaves, bark or stones. It emerges just after dusk, foraging on the ground or on low-growing bushes
403:
The species has been introduced to
Zealandia Wildlife Sanctuary. By using a specially designed fence to exclude mammalian predators, the sanctuary hopes to re-establish an environment similar to that which existed on New Zealand before the arrival of humans, where species such as the Cook Strait
399:
The Matiu-Somes Island transfer was undertaken in 1996 with two separate translocations taking place. In total 62 individual wētā were released and were sourced from Mana Island. Surveys of the Cook Strait giant wētā were undertaken on Matiu-Somes Island in 2013 and 2015.
391:
in the North Island in 2007 have helped to greatly expand this vulnerable species' range. In addition, on Mana Island, the removal of cattle and eradication of mice has dramatically increased Cook Strait giant wētā abundance. With the success of these introductions, the
349:. 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.
332:
Owing to its solitary and nomadic lifestyle, the Cook Strait giant wētā's reproduction relies upon the male locating a receptive female. This search is facilitated by the strong scent produced by the wētā's body and by its
396:
plans to continue to introduce the Cook Strait giant wētā to new island habitats, while ensuring that its existing island habitats remain protected against the threat of predator invasion.
525:
352:
Historically, the Cook Strait giant wētā was found on mainland New
Zealand as well as many off-shore islands, but the introduction of mammalian predators such as the
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91:
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The Cook Strait giant wētā was assessed by the
Department of Conservation as "At Risk: Relict", with a stable but small population.
310:. In 2007, this species was reintroduced to mainland New Zealand, where it had been extinct for over 100 years, and is now found in
388:
311:
758:"Ecological observations of Cook Strait giant wētā, Deinacrida rugosa (Orthoptera: Anostostomatidae), on Matiu/Somes Island"
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684:
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106:
1021:
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The Cook Strait giant wētā is found only in New
Zealand, on the islands of the North, South and Middle Trio,
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A number of animals prey on the Cook Strait giant wētā, including birds and reptiles such as the
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Trewick, Steven A.; Johns, P. M.; Hitchmough, Rod A.; Rolfe, Jeremy; Stringer, Ian (2016).
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988:
932:
529:
501:
636:"Sexual Selection for Male Mobility in a Giant Insect with Female-Biased Size Dimorphism"
544:"From farm to forest – 50 years of ecological transformation on Mana Island, New Zealand"
480:. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. Wellington, N.Z: Department of Conservation.
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in the North Island. It is found in open grassland, shrubland and forest margins.
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740:. Biodiversity Recovery Unit, Department of Conservation, Wellington.
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Watts, Corinne; Thornburrow, Danny; Stringer, Ian (22 August 2017).
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Tuhinga: Records of the Museum of New
Zealand te Papa Tongarewa
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and shrubs, where it particularly favours tauhinu flowers (
543:
532:
New
Zealand Department of Conservation (November, 2008)
710:
The
Biology of Wetas, King Crickets and Their Allies.
796:
478:
Conservation status of New
Zealand Orthoptera, 2014
634:Kelly, C.D.; Bussière, L.F.; Gwynne, D.T. (2008).
768:. Entomological Society of New Zealand: 11–19.
379:Introductions of the Cook Strait giant wētā to
734:New Zealand Threatened Species Recovery Plans
427:World Conservation Monitoring Centre (1996).
8:
452:10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T6306A12602415.en
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720:
718:
82:
60:
31:
20:
662:
559:
450:
282:The Cook Strait giant wētā is one of the
595:Gibbs, G.W. (1998). "Why are some weta (
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416:
599:) vulnerable yet others are common?".
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394:New Zealand Department of Conservation
751:
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7:
956:327b35ea-aaa5-4456-9cee-be2c4b734580
542:Miskelly, Colin M. (6 March 2023).
438:IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
14:
404:giant wētā can thrive once more.
262:means "terrible grasshopper" and
1012:IUCN Red List vulnerable species
105:
986:Orthoptera Species File (new):
976:Orthoptera Species File (old):
727:"Threatened Weta Recovery Plan"
1032:Endemic insects of New Zealand
601:Journal of Insect Conservation
1:
712:CABI Publishing, Wallingford.
387:in 1996, and, most recently,
16:Species of orthopteran insect
389:Zealandia Wildlife Sanctuary
312:Zealandia Wildlife Sanctuary
284:largest insects in the world
40:Cook Strait giant weta from
597:Orthoptera: Stenopelmatidae
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1027:Insects described in 1871
217:
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102:Scientific classification
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30:
23:
561:10.3897/TUHINGA.34.98136
491:Cook Strait giant weta (
290:Distribution and habitat
266:means "wrinkled". It is
643:The American Naturalist
613:10.1023/a:1009660200402
582:Karori Sanctuary Trust.
580:Cook Strait giant weta.
528:2 February 2012 at the
725:Sherley, G.H. (1998).
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258:. The scientific name
241:Cook Strait giant wētā
239:, commonly called the
371:
500:4 March 2016 at the
445:: e.T6306A12602415.
385:Matiu / Somes Island
326:Cassinia leptophylla
245:Stephens Island wētā
43:Matiu / Somes Island
708:Field, L.H. (2001)
52:Conservation status
377:
247:, is a species of
999:
998:
964:Open Tree of Life
842:deinacrida-rugosa
828:Deinacrida rugosa
798:Deinacrida rugosa
790:Taxon identifiers
522:Deinacrida rugosa
493:Deinacrida rugosa
431:Deinacrida rugosa
373:Deinacrida rugosa
236:Deinacrida rugosa
232:
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221:Deinacrida rugosa
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25:Deinacrida rugosa
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1022:Anostostomatidae
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690:on 8 August 2017
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683:. Archived from
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692:. Retrieved
685:the original
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456:. Retrieved
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364:Conservation
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227:Buller, 1871
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902:iNaturalist
822:Wikispecies
458:16 November
381:Mana Island
304:Matiu/Somes
278:Description
272:New Zealand
1006:Categories
694:4 November
260:Deinacrida
190:Deinacrida
165:Suborder:
159:Orthoptera
139:Arthropoda
67:Vulnerable
774:0111-7696
383:in 1976,
354:black rat
197:Species:
125:Kingdom:
119:Eukaryota
920:11073593
813:Q1316728
807:Wikidata
762:The Weta
681:22494505
673:18651830
664:1893/914
621:22763029
554:: 1–46.
526:Archived
498:Archived
375:specimen
296:Stephens
175:Family:
169:Ensifera
135:Phylum:
129:Animalia
115:Domain:
72:IUCN 2.3
979:1132038
969:3493058
946:2059939
894:1725133
504:Arkive.
411:Sources
347:tuatara
341:Threats
318:Biology
268:endemic
251:in the
185:Genus:
155:Order:
149:Insecta
145:Class:
90: (
70: (
989:841339
953:NZOR:
881:DNCRRU
868:606212
837:ARKive
772:
679:
671:
619:
264:rugosa
253:family
249:insect
92:NZ TCS
88:Relict
915:IRMNG
907:85235
855:6CGHM
730:(PDF)
688:(PDF)
677:S2CID
639:(PDF)
617:S2CID
1017:Wētā
941:NCBI
933:6306
928:IUCN
889:GBIF
876:EPPO
770:ISSN
696:2018
669:PMID
460:2021
443:1996
308:Mana
306:and
300:Maud
863:EoL
850:CoL
659:hdl
651:doi
647:172
609:doi
556:doi
447:doi
329:).
270:to
243:or
1008::
966::
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930::
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891::
878::
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852::
839::
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809::
766:51
764:.
760:.
746:^
738:25
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732:.
717:^
675:.
667:.
657:.
645:.
641:.
615:.
603:.
587:^
570:^
552:34
550:.
546:.
509:^
495:).
468:^
441:.
435:.
419:^
302:,
298:,
274:.
776:.
698:.
661::
653::
623:.
611::
605:2
564:.
558::
462:.
449::
433:"
429:"
356:(
94:)
74:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
