Poor Knights weta  (Deinacrida fallai)

Description

The Poor Knights weta is one of over 100 large, flightless insects belonging to the weta family (Stenopelmatidae), all of which are endemic to the New Zealand archipelago (2). Weta are one of the world’s most ancient groups of species alive today (3), and look somewhere between a cockroach and a cricket, with large legs (2). This sizeable species belongs to a subset known as giant weta (Deinacrida), which comprises some of the largest insects on Earth (2). The Poor Knights weta is pale brown with dark brown lower hind limbs, a line of black markings on its back and black stripes along the flanks (4).

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