Has legs and antennas similar to a cricket but with way smaller body, anyone know what it is?
joberri,
May 20, 9:28pm
Looks like a Weta?
articferrit,
May 20, 9:47pm
it looks a lot like a weta.
sly-man,
May 20, 10:05pm
it's a grasshopper isnt it?
patxyz,
May 20, 10:06pm
cave weta. ?
leobreaker,
May 20, 10:24pm
Thanks for the input everyone. I guess it's a Weta, what a way to see one for the first time ever. Way too close for comfort.
marte,
May 21, 12:14am
Its a female Weta, quite cool little insects. Quite harmless. They like the dark & often will stay on your hand because they dont like moving onto something different, but they will do a random jump into mid air.
Also they are the reason why you leave a broomstick or something in you bath when you leave the house for more than a day, so they can climb out if they hop in. They dont get a grip in smooth surfaces & cant jump out.
shanreagh,
May 21, 5:40am
So nothing to do with wetting witches or something like that?
smallwoods,
May 21, 8:24am
This, also have found them in Kanuka stands when we were scrub cutting.
ira78,
May 21, 5:56pm
How do you live in New Zealand and not recognize a weta? They're our national insect! (Do we actually have a national insect? If not, we should)
smallwoods,
May 21, 6:56pm
Because there are a few different varieties.
brouser3,
May 21, 7:46pm
Harmless unless you get bitten - yes they do bite. Not poisonous but quite painful I believe.
tweake,
May 21, 8:57pm
tree weta. i think they are the most common type. we find them a lot in the orchard hedge rows.
smallwoods,
May 21, 10:10pm
mainly the "bull" weta. The old man had one crawling over the back of his neck, he thought it was a twig. He went to flick it off and the bull bit in. Took a chunk out of the old mans neck to get it off.
lythande1,
May 21, 10:13pm
Weta, put it outside, she will wander off. Yes it's a she.
madoof1,
May 22, 6:44am
Dead If I found it in my house!
mazalinas,
May 22, 6:51am
Ditto! I was in the bathroom and in the reflection of the mirror I saw one of those bull wetas crouching down on top of the door frame behind me. I had to put the bathmat over my head to escape the room as I was scared it would jump on my head. They give me the heebie jeebies and no matter where I live they find me.
leeran,
May 23, 8:34am
The female is not nearly as scary as the bull but I haven't seen one for years. Don't really get them in the city. What gives me the heebie jeebies are hedgehogs but would never kill one, wouldn't a weta either.
joanie04,
May 23, 11:57pm
One got into mum and dad's bed many years ago and bit mum. Dad said he had never seen anyone jump out of bed so quickly and deal to with the back of her hair brush. Poor thing was never given a chance to be identified until it was too late. They used to love my grandmother's wood pile and would hitch a ride inside. Daughter has a fascination with them. Ruud Kleinpaste had a giant one that he let her told when she visited Wingspan in Rotorua. She politely refused his invitation to get close and personal with a white tail spider though.
barrie2,
May 24, 12:43am
Me too. ! No questions asked.
2bit,
May 24, 1:46am
It's a weta. My cat used to bring them in and leave them in my bed, horrible little creature. The cat, not the weta.
muppet_slayer,
May 24, 2:09am
So you're scared of something 1000 times smaller than you and the answer is to kill it. Why not coax it outside where it belongs instead of ending it's life?
tweake,
May 24, 3:17am
i have some fun with the lads at work, go pick up a weta and surprise them with it. watch the guys running down the paddock screaming like little girls. funny as !
tree weta is more common around homes and thats what we get here.
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