Tangwystl Cottage - it's been BUGging me

I can't remember how many years ago it was, now, but I found these photos I took of a sneaky visitor we discovered in the house, post-mortem.

Meet ... the WETA

Very broadly speaking, they're our version of the grasshopper or cricket; and boy, do they hop!

And to make it even more photogenic, I laid it out on a sheet to better show off its good side, as one does.

Scientific classification: families Anostostomatidae and Rhaphidophoridae.
Say these words at parties and impress all your friends. Trust me, I know these things.

Wētā have been around long enough to see dinosaurs come and go and to evolve into more than 70 different species, all of them endemic to New Zealand. source (You really ought to check on the info on this page!)

I suspect it crawled under an external door, dazed and confused as to where it should have been heading - towards a wood pile as they love those hidey-holes.
Recently we picked up a stack of clay bricks from someone who lived further out in the country, and were quite 'entertained' by the sheer volume of little BUGgers pinging off out of the pile as we disturbed them.
More accurately, we wished they were pinging off, but more often they were flinging themselves at us much to the horror of my kids, lol.
Okay, and me too but don't tell anyone.
I won't freak you out by adding pics of just how big the Giant Weta is, but google it for yourself. Its the one taking up most space sitting on a person's hand and is apparently the heaviest insect on earth. They are said to be 'gentle giants' though, so that is something.

Out of the 70 species we have here, 16 are 'at risk' - meaning endangered. You can actually make weta habitats, which would help them out. Here is a helpful link to instructions, but there are plenty if you research:
https://www.doc.govt.nz/get-involved/conservation-activities/exploring-nature-with-children-booklet/in-your-own-backyard/build-a-weta-motel/

Weta are nocturnal and live in a variety of habitats including: pasture, shrub, forests, and caves. Weta excavate holes under stones, rotting logs, or in trees. They sometimes occupy pre-formed burrows. source

image source

And if your most burning question about these insects has been"Can I eat them and what do they taste like?" then Bear Grylls has already answered you ...

The Man vs Wild star has eaten all manner of creatures on location in the wild, including grubs, raw zebra, snakes and spiders, but he said the live tree weta he ate during filming was the worst thing he had tasted.
"It tasted literally like you'd imagine poo would taste. I've eaten a lot of bugs, but this was something else." source

Perhaps he just needed a nice cold beer to wash it down with.

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(extra tags: #photography #homesteading #lifestyle #insects #biology)