„The weta family comprises around 70 insect species endemic to the New Zealand archipelago. They are large by insect standards, some species among the largest and heaviest in the world. Their physical appearance is that of a cross between a cockroach and a cricket with the addition of large legs.By virtue of their ability to cope with variations in temperature, weta can be found in a variety of environments including alpine, forests, grasslands, caves, shrub lands and urban gardens. They are nocturnal and flightless, with a diet consisting of leaves, other insects, fungi, dead animals and fruit.
New Zealand had no native land mammals apart from native bats prior to the arrival of humans. Ecological niches that were filled by mammals in other parts of the world were filled by native fauna in New Zealand. The wetas place in the ecosystem is comparable to that held by mice and other rodents elsewhere in the world. Like their foreign mouse equivalents, they are hunted by an owl: in this case the Morepork, New Zealands only surviving native owl. Weta also pass seeds of some plant species through their digestive tracts unharmed, thus acting as seed dispersers. It is yet to be seen how decreases in weta populations are affecting native plant species that rely on the weta’s help.“
