I found a couple of links to pictures and information about the Weta. Weta's are insects that have been around since dinosaurs walked the earth, but only here in New Zealand (Aotearoa).

http://www.tiritirimatangi.org.nz/NAFS_Weta.htm

http://www.kcc.org.nz/animals/weta.htm

The second link is a children's fact sheet but it has some good information on it if you have never seen a weta before.
Weta's can be found all over Aotearoa but are nocturnal and prefer to live in the bush or overgrown areas. I have seen them quite often as my naughty cat brings them in, of course I always rescue them and put them back outside somewhere safe. They come in a wide variety of shades and sizes, I have to admit that although I think they are beautiful I avoid touching them as much as possible.

xxx, Ruth
:beamedup:

Ruth, those little guys are the coolest things!! Imagine being submerged for 3 days and still surviving?!?!!? Or freezing nightly only to thaw in the morning and be just fine (even when 80% of the water in its body gets frozen!). And here we humans thought cockroaches were going to be the ones to survive a nuclear explosion. Nope. It's going to be the wetas!!! LOL!

The largest weta recorded was a female and it weighed around THREE TIMES heavier than a mouse?!?!?!?!?!? That's one BIG bug!!!

Marian

Well, the info sure is interesting but I have to be honest and admit, I'm not a big fan of creepy-crawlies and this one isn't particularly pretty! In fact, it looks like he may be related to the cockroach! EEww!

One thing I did notice, though, on both those sites, is that they contradicted each other on one point. The first link says that weta are found in other Southern Hemisphere countries besides New Zealand. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Yet the second link (the kids' one) says that they are ONLY found in NZ.

As long as that 3-pound (or whatever!) insect isn't found scurrying across MY floor......

Shelley ;-)