Mel Williams, Visitor Services
When you walk through to the Kiwi House at Kiwi North you go past a box on the wall. It’s pretty unassuming and easy to miss but inside that box is a little hidden world and a species of insect older than many dinosaurs. They are New Zealand wētā and that box is a Wētā Hotel.
Fossilised remains that date back to the end of the Triassic period, over 190 million years ago, means their ancestors scurried about the earth long before the evolution of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. These incredible creatures still exist today.
Wētā love to live in small dark places, in holes, under stones, rocks and logs. For this reason, inside their hotel, away from sight and sunlight, are branches with lots of hidey-holes, and fresh plants, vegetables and fruit for nutrition.
There are more than 70 species of wētā in New Zealand, including 11 species of giant wētā. The largest giant wētā is the Wētāpunga, which can weigh up to 35 grams, about the same as a sparrow. This is the most vulnerable.
The ones who live at Kiwi North are tree wētā. They are significantly smaller, measuring between 4-6cm long. They are herbivores and like to live in groups, making them perfect for our Wētā Hotel.
They are nocturnal, making it difficult to see them, but their custom designed Wētā Hotel has a special feature so that visitors can catch a glimpse at any time of the day. When the sun rises and it’s time for the wētā to get their beauty sleep, they find a cosy spot in their sleeping quarters. This area backs onto a shutter which enables visitors to see them, without disrupting them, in all their prehistoric glory.
Tree wētā communicate using stridulation, which is when two body parts are rubbed together to form a sound. In this case, the sound is created by rubbing the hind legs against comb-like ridges on the sides of the body. The resulting noise is a chirping that they then hear through ears on their front legs.
Male tree wētā are territorial and will stand guard in the wild to protect their tunnels and harem of females from other males. They don’t fight to the death but it is not unusual for limbs and antennnae to be lost in an altercation.
Wētā however are not dangerous to humans. They can deliver a nasty nip if they feel threatened, especially the males, but they have no stinger. Their defence when exposed to danger is to lift a hind leg to give the appearance of being bigger. Males have two spikes which are believed to be sensory organs while females have one, which is actually an ovipositer, used to lay eggs.
Sadly, wētā fall prey to the same predators as the kiwi, gecko and other native treasures. Cats, rats and hedgehogs are big contributors to their diminishing numbers, as is urban sprawl and the destruction of habitat.
Safe and snug however is our little wētā family. One male and three females, living life in an unseen world by night, and snuggled up safely by day in their very own Wētā Hotel.
