Tree weta
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| Tree weta | ||||||||||||||
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 Male Wellington tree weta
Hemideina crassidens |
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Tree wetas are species of weta in the genus Hemideina of the family Anostostomatidae. They are endemic to New Zealand.
Tree wetas are those most commonly encountered in suburban settings. They are up to 40 mm long and most commonly live in holes in trees formed by beetle larvae. Each hole, called a gallery, will house up to ten females and one male. Tree weta are nocturnal. Their diet consists of plants and small insects. The males, which have much larger jaws than the females, hiss and bite when threatened.
Mountain stone weta can survive being frozen for months at a time in a state of suspended animation down to temperatures of -10°C. This is because their haemolymph (the insect equivalent of blood) contains special proteins which prevent ice from forming in their cells.
When the territories of species overlap, they may interbreed, although offspring are sterile.
[edit] Species
- Hemideina broughi (Buller, 1896) West Coast bush weta - overlaps with the Wellington tree weta on the West Coast.
- Hemideina crassidens (Blanchard, 1851) Wellington tree weta - Wellington, the Wairarapa, the northern parts of South Island, and the West Coast.
- Hemideina femorata Hutton, 1898 Canterbury tree weta - Canterbury.
- Hemideina maori (Pictet & Saussure, 1891) Mountain stone weta - the drier areas of the central South Island High Country. It abandoned life in trees millions of years ago in favour of crevices and cavities under rocks.
- Hemideina ricta Hutton, 1898 Banks Peninsula tree weta - Banks Peninsula.
- Hemideina thoracica (White, 1842) Auckland tree weta or tokoriro - found throughout the North Island apart from the Wellington-Wairarapa region.
- Hemideina trewicki Morgan Richards, 1995 Hawke's Bay tree weta - Hawke's Bay.
