Weta Imformation Report Term 3

This is a piece of writing that we did for our mini beasts topic when we were learning about weta.

We had to write an information report on this insect.

Click here to see our success criteria.

Weta Information       pūrongorongo/report

What is a Weta?

Weta are a classified insect that is native to New Zealand/Aoteroa. They are known as the children of Tane. They are invertebrates which means that their kōhiwihiwi/skeleton is on the outside of their body. The Māori think that Weta are ugly so they called them Punga ( spirit of ugliness ). Weta have curved tusks and spiky legs. They breathe through their exoskeleton. There are five main types of Weta: Ground Weta, Tusked Weta, Tree Weta, Cave Weta and Giant Weta but there are more than 100 species of Weta. All the species in New Zealand cannot patu rango/fly. They are nocturnal so they sleep during the day and play and do stuff at night. Their ears are on their front legs just below their kneecaps. Giant Weta are the heaviest aitanga pepeke/insects in the world! They grow up to 10cm and weigh up to 30g.

                                                     Habitat

In the winter some Weta can tio/freeze completely, unfreeze and still survive. Tree Weta lives in holes in trees. They live in a range of taiao/environments. Ground Weta live in tārua/burrows in the ground. Cave Weta live in sea coast caves and hollow tree trunks. Tusked Weta live on the ground like ground Weta. Giant Weta live in island sanctuaries. Some Weta live in rotten logs and maybe even in your wood pile.

                                 Feeding Behaviour

Most types of Weta are omnivores. As Weta are moeao/nocturnal they feed at night. Tree and giant Weta are mostly herbivores and they like to eat leaves, lichen, seed heads, fruit and flowers. Ground and tusked Weta are carnivorous and they eat tōririki/small invertebrates, paranoke/worms and kararua/snails. Some Weta eat other aitanga pepeke/insects but they don’t eat other Weta. 

                                    Breeding/reproducing

Weta lay their eggs  at night because they are nocturnal. Spring and summer are normally the time Weta mate. Weta lay about five-six hua hei hei/eggs at a time. Overall in their lifetime they have about 300 hei hei/eggs which compared to us humans is a lot! Female Weta have an ovipositor that they stick into the ground when they lay eggs. Female ground Weta are known to build a special rūma/chamber in their burrow and care for their eggs until they have hatched. About eight months after the weta eggs are layed they hatch and grow.

                                                   

                                                           Social Lives

Tree Weta is the most social out of the rima/five main types of Weta. They are the most likely Weta to go to Weta hōtēra/hotels. Tree Weta talk by scraping their back hōkarikari/legs against the side of their body. When they do that it makes a chirping sound.

                                      Threats/predators

The threats of a Weta is when human kōpiripiri/squash them either on purpose or by mistake. Birds, reptiles, rats, cats, hedgehogs and bats are some  of the Weta predators. To protect themselves they can hide in crevasse. Weta ringaringa/wave their makao/spiky hind legs to frighten and/or scratch humans, annoyances and predators. Female tree Weta can look pretty whakamataku/scary, too. They have an ovipositor for laying eggs, but it looks like a very large stinger so some people stay away from them even though they can’t sting! To help them we can watch where we are stepping  and if we find a Weta on a path we can put it in a bush so it won’t get squashed. The main thing we need to do to keep weta alive is to look after their habitat.

This is some pārongo/information about Weta. You might want to try and build a Weta hotel and see if any Weta come and stay at it. I hope you now matatau/know more about Weta and make sure you kaikanohi/look after them. 

Na/By Indi