''Novoplectron'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus of cave

wētā Wētā (also spelt weta) is the common name for a group of about 100 insect species in the families Anostostomatidae and Rhaphidophoridae endemic to New Zealand. They are giant flightless crickets, and some are among the heaviest insects in th ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Rhaphidophoridae The orthopteran family Rhaphidophoridae of the suborder Ensifera has a worldwide distribution. Common names for these insects include cave wētā, cave crickets, camelback crickets, camel crickets, Hogan bugs, spider crickets (sometimes shortene ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

Chatham Islands The Chatham Islands ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about te ...

. Cave wētā are nocturnal, wingless crickets that occupy humid habitats. ''Novoplectron'' wētā generally live under stones and in burrows of seabirds, such as broad-billed prions, mutton birds and storm petrels.

Distribution & Taxonomy

The genus ''Novoplectron'' have only been recorded on the

(a group of offshore islands of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

). These wētā exist alongside '' Talitropsis crassicruris,'' another New Zealand endemic species, on Mangere, Pitt,

Rangatira In Māori culture, () are tribal chiefs, the hereditary Māori leaders of a hapū. Ideally, rangatira were people of great practical wisdom who held authority () on behalf of the tribe and maintained boundaries between a tribe's land and that ...

and The Sisters islands. However, there is an absence of ''Novoplectron'' wētā on the Chatham main island. (See distribution map https://wetageta.massey.ac.nz/Text%20files/NOVOPLECTRON2014.html). Several wētā specimens from the genus '' Pleioplectron'' were collected from the Chatham Islands in 1958. After examining them, Richards discovered that the Chatham Island endemic species '' Pleioplectron serratum'' Hutton, 1904 displayed five major morphological differences that were not found in other species of the genus ''Pleioplectron''. It was determined that this species did not belong to any genus of

that had been previously recognised. This led to a new genus, ''Novoplectron'' Richards, 1958, being described, and the Chatham Island species was reassigned as ''Novoplectron serratum'' (Hutton, 1904).

Morphology

Wētā of the genus ''Novoplectron'' have stocky bodies that can be up to 26 millimetres long and are thinly covered with short

setae In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for "bristle") are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Annelid setae are stiff bristles present on the body. Th ...

. They have very long, tapering antennae, which are about three times the length of their body. Some sections of their thin legs are armed with variable numbers of spines. The subgenital plate of females tends to be broad and short with a wide distal margin. While males tend to have a short triangular subgenital plate that has a long abrupt taper and curved at the apex.

Diet

Cave wētās are predominantly

scavengers Scavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While scavenging generally refers to carnivores feeding on carrion, it is also a herbivorous feeding be ...

that feed on animal and plant material found within the caves they inhabit. Although, they will forage in the surrounding area if food becomes scarce inside the cave. The diet of ''Novoplectron'' mainly consists of dead seabirds. However, they have also been known to eat other types of animal and plant material.

Species

* '' Novoplectron serratum'' Hutton, 1904

References

Peripatus
Ensifera genera Cave weta {{rhaphidophoridae-stub