Eeeeek ... guess what was crawling under my desk?

[Stormswift]

Not sure if you guys have seen one of these before ... but I heard this scratching - thought it was the cat - looked under my desk and found a big one of these:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The one I found was not quite this big though - about half the size.

Edited February 1, 2015 by Stormswift

[Stormswift]

It's a Weta and yes I got my hubby up to get rid of it. Heh.

[rocket]

So whata is a weta?

[Luezette]

Yeah, what is it? But regardless it's still: eeewwww!

[Musky]

Looks like a big cricket. if so, he must make a racket at night!

[Stormswift]

Yeah kinda like a big cricket/grasshopper with armour plating - while one has never bit me - some say they can jump and bite.  NZ is home to the Giant Weta - the one I had this morning was as big as my husband's hand. Peter Jackson has used them in his movies (not sure how much of a recommendation that is lol). If you search 'Weta' on Youtube it will come up with some more images. I always thought the Weta was unique to NZ but going on some youtube vids it looks like there are different varieties in different countries.

 

 

NZ is known for it's abundance in bird life and insects.

[Precision]

Wetas are listed as one of the most top ten diabolical insects in the world with NZ having the largest...mostly pregnant females.

I don't know why they get such a bad rap...The Maori's loved them as a delicacy..." taste just like buttery chicken." 

[Stormswift]

I'm not sure why they have a bad rap either honesty - they are quite fearsome looking, but like I said - I've never been attacked by one. The Maori like anything  - they eat rotten corn, fish heads, Huhu grubs - so eating weta is probably not surprising at all.

 

*chuckles (I'm part Maori )

[Precision]

I'm not sure why they have a bad rap either honesty - they are quite fearsome looking, but like I said - I've never been attacked by one. The Maori like anything  - they eat rotten corn, fish heads, Huhu grubs - so eating weta is probably not surprising at all.

 

*chuckles (I'm part Maori )

Well, the sign of a great chef is their willingness to whip up something new... how about DH (Dear Hubby)... surprise him...he might love it and ask for seconds! 

[Stormswift]

Nahhh he will wait until I eat it first. He's a bright cookie.

[cricket246]

That looks like a cave cricket! We used to have those in the basement of our old house lol They can jump pretty high which makes for a scary sight at night if you're not ready for it.

[Stormswift]

How big do your cave crickets get?

[bagwell1987]

Pondering quietly to self: If I go to NZ  to visit I'll have to fight off prehistoric insects  ....so maybe we'll wait until the new system for that visit

[Stormswift]

Reminds bagwell quietly ... said prehistoric insects will still exist in the new system.

[cricket246]

Usually a little bit bigger than a regular black yard cricket. My first encounter with one I thought it was a jumping spider because it chased me lol I live in Kentucky and they are common in cave areas or where it's dark and/or damp. I usually just caught them and took them outside (of course I am pretty biased to any living creature other than man eating spiders )

[Stormswift]

Aaaah okay - so it's a different species then. Now ... you can keep the man eating spiders - i'll keep our Weta.

[boodles]

It looks like what I saw dead once, outside of a house in Spring Valley, near San Diego, California. There they call them Jerusalem crickets or Children of the Earth. Yuck! The article says they are related to the weta and king crickets found in Australia and New Zealand.

Edited February 2, 2015 by boodles

[boodles]

oops

Edited February 2, 2015 by boodles

[Stormswift]

Yes now those look extremely similar except they don't have the barbs on the legs like the ones in NZ but they are certainly in the same family.

[Old]

Glad to find out there is such a critter. Thought they might be a figment of my imagination.

 

In Humboldt county California we found a very similar insect while spading soil. Probably it didn't dig in, just got exposed when turning over the soil.

They were only about three inches in length over all, we called them potato bugs.

 

While spelunking in the same area we discovered the cave dweller version, kind of like a cricket with very long legs, short body and very long antenna. 

When my science teacher disputed the find, my buddy and I tried to put one in a quart mason jar.

It was too long and we either broke the hind legs or broke the antenna.

We just said the heck with it and didn't tell anybody else about them.

 

In the same caves we found daddy long leg spiders with the same weird dimensions, super long legs, small body but 12 inches span on the legs.

They would hang off the ceiling of the caves and hanging off each other forming a net that was face deep. Very icky. After panicking two times and running over my best friend to get to the exit, he and I decided I wasn't up to spelunking.

 

Blame it on the bugs. 

 

[Precision]

What's spelunking Bro. Jerry ???     

[Sheila]

Yeah kinda like a big cricket/grasshopper with armour plating - while one has never bit me - some say they can jump and bite.  NZ is home to the Giant Weta - the one I had this morning was as big as my husband's hand. Peter Jackson has used them in his movies (not sure how much of a recommendation that is lol). If you search 'Weta' on Youtube it will come up with some more images. I always thought the Weta was unique to NZ but going on some youtube vids it looks like there are different varieties in different countries.

 

 

NZ is known for it's abundance in bird life and insects.

Mandy, as an ex NZer, let me tell you that those things can jump in any direction they like - forward, sideways, backward and straight up.    They used to live in my wood shed and I hated going in there to get wood for the fire in winter.  Never knew when one would sneak out and jump on me.  Absolutely ghastly things.   Now I live in Queensland and the big cockroaches are just as dreadful.   Crawl everywhere in the dark, so I keep a light on in my bedroom every night.   I know they're Gods creatures, but I stomp on them any chance I get.    Uugghh. 

[Stormswift]

Yeah I remember getting them in our gumboots too but they've never done any acrobats with me - I just have boring old moths dive bombing me. (sorry Jehovah - didn't mean boring just relatively speaking lol)

[Old]

What's spelunking Bro. Jerry ???     

Exploring caves

[Stormswift]

This is a picture of a Weta I drew some years ago - shows the barbs on the legs a bit clearer.

 

Imagine all the insects we haven't discovered yet?