The NZ Weta.

Recently at school we have been learning about mini-beasts and our topic for our first writing was about weta.

Here is my success criteria.



The NZ Weta

What is a Weta?

Weta are native insects/mū to NZ.  The most common weta is the tree weta.  Weta are invertebrates which mean they have no spine. They are also have exoskeletons which means their skeleton is on the outside of their body. All weta are different sizes. A weta breathes through their exoskeleton. They can outway a mouse and possibly a little sparrow.  Wetas ears are on their front legs close to their knees. Only male weta have pincers on the front of their face and the giant weta are the heaviest recorded insects in the whole world.  Weta moult ten times before they are adults.  There are all the facts about the weta body.

Survivability
Weta can be frozen and unfrozen and still survive.  They can grow to any size but if they grow too big they will not be able to breathe. Weta can survive under water for four days.




Where do they live?
Weta live in NZ. Different kinds of weta can live in lots of different kinds of places. The main place that we see weta living in is inside of rotted out logs.  Tree weta live in hollow trees or small holes in trees.  Some weta might live in firewood piles or coal bins.  Tusked weta sometimes burrow down into the ground and the leaves.

Reproducing
All female weta lay eggs. The female weta lay 6-10 eggs at a time and they lay 200 eggs in their whole life.  To lay their eggs they use their ovipositors and stick them into the ground and then they push out the eggs. In spring weta mate and then in autumn they lay their eggs. The eggs stay in the ground for one year.


How Do They  Behave Socially?
Some weta like tree weta live in groups of up to ONE HUNDRED!! But then some other weta live lonely under rotten logs and also some other kinds of weta live alone. Tree weta communicate by scraping their hind legs together.


Their Threats

1080, carbon ammunition and weed sprays are man made threats to some species of weta.  Weed sprays will kill a little amount of the weta that we have in NZ. In the future to look after them we can find other ways to kill pests than using 1080  and try to stop using carbon ammunition all the time(not that we are ALL the time). One of the main threats to weta are humans destroying their habitat. If we want weta to survive we need to look after their habitat.

By Jack