Tree wētā (pūtangatanga) are insects in the genus ''Hemideina'' of the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Anostostomatidae Anostostomatidae is a family of insects in the order Orthoptera, widely distributed in the southern hemisphere. It is named Mimnermidae or Henicidae in some taxonomies, and common names include ''king crickets'' in Australia and South Africa, an ...

. The genus is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. There are seven species within the

wētā Wētā (also spelled weta in English) is the common name for a group of about 100 insect species in the families Anostostomatidae and Rhaphidophoridae endemism, endemic to New Zealand. They are giant wingless insect, flightless cricket (insect ...

genus ''Hemideina'', found throughout the country except lowland

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

and Southland. Because many pūtangatanga species are common and widespread they have been used extensively in studies of ecology and evolution.

Habitat

Tree wētā are commonly encountered in forests and suburban gardens throughout most of New Zealand. They are up to 40 mm long and most commonly live in holes in trees formed by beetle and moth larvae or where rot has set in after a twig has broken off. The hole, called a gallery, is maintained by the wētā and any growth of the bark surrounding the opening is chewed away. They readily occupy a preformed gallery in a piece of wood (a "wētā motel") and can be kept in a suburban garden as pets. A gallery might house a harem of up to 10 adult females and one male.

Behaviour

Tree wētā are

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

and

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...

, hiding in hollow tree branches during the day and feeding at night. Their diet consists of leaves, flowers, fruit and small insects. Males have larger heads and stronger jaws than females, though both sexes will

stridulate Stridulation is the act of producing sound by rubbing together certain body parts. This behavior is mostly associated with insects, but other animals are known to do this as well, such as a number of species of fish, snakes and spiders. The mech ...

and bite when threatened. Hemideina_crassidens_harem

MA I066498 TePapa Hemideina-broughi-Buller1896 full

Species

The seven species of tree wētā are: ; Auckland tree wētā, ''

Hemideina thoracica ''Hemideina thoracica'', commonly known as the Auckland tree wētā or tokoriro is a cricket-like insect (within the family Anostostomatidae). It is endemic to New Zealand and is found over most of the North Island, except for the Wellington re ...

'' (White, 1846) : Also known as tokoriro; found throughout the

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

apart from the

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

Wairarapa The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service t ...

region. Within this range are nine chromosome races and there are five hybrid zones where six of these races meet. ; Hawke's Bay tree wētā, '' Hemideina trewicki'' Morgan-Richards, 1995 :

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay () is a region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region is named for Hawke Bay, which was named in honour of Edward Hawke. The region's main centres are the cities of Napier and Hastings, while the more rural ...

. ; Wellington tree wētā, ''

Hemideina crassidens ''Hemideina crassidens'', commonly known as the Wellington tree wētā, is a large, flightless, nocturnal insect in the family Anostostomatidae. This wētā species is Endemism, endemic to New Zealand and populates regions in the southern half ...

'' (Blanchard, 1851) :

, the

, the northern part of the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

, and the West Coast. They have been the subject of studies of coevolution, sexual selection, hybridisation and range shifts. ; Canterbury tree wētā, '' Hemideina femorata'' Hutton, 1898 : Marlborough and

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

. ; Mountain stone wētā, ''

Hemideina maori ''Hemideina maori'', also known as the mountain stone wētā, is a wētā of the family Anostostomatidae. They are a large, flightless, nocturnal orthopteran Endemism, endemic to New Zealand. Mountain stone wētā are long lived and are found o ...

'' (Pictet & Saussure, 1891) : The drier areas of the central South Island high country, living above the treeline. This species abandoned life in the forest millions of years ago in favour of crevices and cavities under rocks. ; Banks Peninsula tree wētā, '' Hemideina ricta'' Hutton, 1898 : A rare species only found on

Banks Peninsula Banks Peninsula () is a rocky peninsula on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand that was formed by two now-extinct volcanoes. It has an area of approximately . It includes two large deep-water harbours — Lyttelton Harbour a ...

. ;West Coast bush wētā, '' Hemideina broughi'' (Buller, 1896) : Overlaps with the Wellington tree wētā in Nelson and the northern West Coast. The three North Island tree wētā species are closely related but each has a distinctive set of chromosomes (

karyotype A karyotype is the general appearance of the complete set of chromosomes in the cells of a species or in an individual organism, mainly including their sizes, numbers, and shapes. Karyotyping is the process by which a karyotype is discerned by de ...

). When the territories of species overlap, as with the related species ''H. femorata'' and ''H. ricta'' on Banks Peninsula, they may interbreed, although offspring are sterile.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10521122 Wētā Anostostomatidae