Weta in the Woodpile

My son found this little weta in the wood he was chopping. It is a cave weta, about 1cm in body length, about 9cm with antennae and legs. I used to find much larger ones, but they don’t appear anymore. They have a fantastic hopping ability, but this one was subdued. Perhaps the sunlight confused it, as they are nocturnal. It is missing part of an antenna, which will be a disadvantage. The antennae are used independently to sweep the area around them in the dark. They eat plants, fungi and other insects and are completely harmless to humans.

There are about 50 species of endemic cave weta in New Zealand. I don’t know which this one is. In the far north there are cave weta that grow to about 35cm, including antennae and legs. They get all the attention.

This afternoon my son and I cut a lot of firewood. I did most of the sawing, the easy part, while my son did the picking up, stacking and chopping.

Today has been a brilliant cloudless day, though cold. It’s a public holiday and the main road (The Great Alpine Highway) has been as busy as a city street all day.