Giant wētā

Deinacrida mahoenui

The Mahoenui giant wētā (Deinacrida mahoenui) is a large, flightless, night-active insect found naturally only near Mahoenui in New Zealand’s King Country, where it survived for decades in thickets of gorse. It is one of 11 giant wētā species (genus Deinacrida); its cousin the wētāpunga holds the record for the heaviest insect ever weighed, at 71 g. In New Zealand the Mahoenui giant wētā is classed as Threatened – Nationally Critical.

Also known as Mahoenui giant wētā, Māhoenui giant wētā, Mahoenui weta

Giant wētā abilities

Legs up adults’ warning pose
When something threatens it, an adult giant wētā doesn’t hop away. It raises its spiny hind legs towards the threat, ready to kick.
- DOC’s wētā recovery plan notes that young wētā may jump away from danger, while adults raise their spiny hind legs instead.
- In tree wētā, the kick comes with a rasping sound; the youngest nymphs lack the sound pegs and jump instead.
- Spines don’t stop rats, cats or hedgehogs, which arrived with people. That’s why predator control matters so much.
Sources [1, 2, 7, 11]
4 types of sound-makers in NZ wētāStill debated
Many wētā make a scratchy sound by rubbing pegs on their hind legs against a ridged file on the sides of the abdomen. How much giant wētā use it is less clear.
- A study of 35 wētā species found four kinds of sound-making equipment, including file-and-peg types in tree wētā and giant wētā.
- In tree wētā the rasping happens while kicking, so scientists think it is a warning.
- An alpine giant wētā made no sounds when courting, unlike tree wētā.
- Male Cook Strait giant wētā face off rivals with vibrations through the ground rather than chirps.
Sources [2, 6, 13, 14]
16 m a male wētāpunga moves per night
After dark, giant wētā climb through the leaves to feed. They are mainly plant-eaters that also eat some insects.
- Radio-tracked wētāpunga fed, moved and laid eggs at night. Males moved about 16 m a night, females about 8 m.
- The Mahoenui giant wētā lives mostly in gorse bushes and is described as omnivorous, eating plants and other insects.
- Mahoenui wētā moved further on warmer nights and less in autumn: about 3 m every two days, against about 10 m in summer.
How far does a wētāpunga walk in one night?
Male wētāpunga≈16 m
Female wētāpunga≈8 m
Average distances between daytime refuges, from radio-tracking on Little Barrier Island.
Sources [1, 7, 9, 10]
9× more likely eaten in native bush
By day, a Mahoenui giant wētā tucks itself deep into a prickly gorse bush, where rats and hedgehogs struggle to reach it.
- Radio-tracked wētā rested 0.6–2.4 m up in the dense foliage of gorse bushes.
- Wētā living in regenerating native forest were 9 times more likely to be killed by predators than wētā in browsed gorse.
- Goats browsing the gorse kept it dense. As the reserve turns back into native bush, the wētā’s shield is thinning.
Sources [10, 11, 12]
≤100 eggs per group, laid in soil
A female pushes her long ovipositor into the soil and lays her eggs underground, in small groups of up to 100.
- Mahoenui eggs are probably laid around March and stay in the ground about 10 months, hatching when the weather warms.
- A wētāpunga female lays eggs throughout her adult life, about 100–300 in total.
- Coming down to the ground to lay is risky: that is when females are most often caught by introduced predators.
Sources [11, 12, 15]
9 nymph stages before adulthood
A wētā grows by moulting: it climbs out of its old skin a little bigger each time. A Mahoenui giant wētā goes through 9 nymph stages.
- Scientists at Mahoenui counted 9 nymph stages, taking about a year to reach adulthood.
- Growth seems to vary with the season, so wētā of many ages live side by side all year.
- Its relative the Poor Knights giant wētā goes through 10–11 nymph stages.
Sources [1, 12]
≈2 years from egg to adult
From egg to adult takes a Mahoenui giant wētā up to two years: about 10 months as an egg, then about a year as a growing nymph.
- Eggs laid in autumn hatch about a year later; nymphs become adults in late summer, when they mate.
- DOC says it takes up to two years to reach adulthood.
- Wētāpunga take 14–24 months to grow up, then live only about 6–9 months as adults.
Egg time vs nymph time ≈22 months from egg to adult
Nymph stages (≈1 year)
The first part of the bar is the egg stage, about 10 months in the soil.
Sources [11, 12, 15]

Tap a pin on the model or a part below.

- Adult giant wētā don’t hop away from danger. They raise their spiny hind legs towards the threat, ready to kick.
- Young nymphs are different: they may jump away instead.
- In tree wētā, pegs on the inside of each hind leg rasp against a ridged file on the abdomen while the wētā kicks.
- Giant wētā are flightless, so walking and climbing legs do all the work.
Sources [1, 2, 3]
- Wētā hear with ears on their front legs, just below the knee. Each ear has two eardrums.
- Organs inside the legs also pick up vibrations travelling through branches and the ground.
- Male Cook Strait giant wētā challenge rivals with vibrations. The male who starts the duel usually wins.
Sources [4, 5, 6]
- Strong jaws (mandibles) chew leaves. Wētā are mainly plant-eaters but also eat some insects.
- The Mahoenui giant wētā is described as omnivorous: it eats plants and other insects.
- Its cousins, male tree wētā, grow much bigger heads and jaws to fight rivals, and big-headed tree wētā feed faster.
Sources [1, 7, 8]
- Giant wētā are nocturnal: feeding, walking and egg-laying happen at night.
- Mahoenui giant wētā move further in warmer weather, above about 13.5 °C.
- Wētāpunga pairs meet at night but usually mate in daylight.
Sources [1, 9, 10]
≈1 in 3 Mahoenui wētā are yellow
- Most Mahoenui giant wētā are dark mahogany brown, but about a third are yellow. No other giant wētā has two distinct colour forms.
- In a study published in 1993, 39% of females and 23% of males were yellow.
- One female was found that was mahogany on one side and yellow on the other.
Sources [11, 12]
75 mm longest females
- Only females have this long egg-laying tube at the tip of the abdomen. It’s for laying eggs, not stinging.
- Females are bigger: up to 75 mm long and 19 g, while males weigh up to about 12 g.
- Males and females are about equal in number, and pairs appear to stay with one partner.
Sources [11, 12]
≤100 eggs per group
- A female pushes her ovipositor into the ground and lays small groups of up to 100 eggs.
- Eggs are probably laid around March and stay in the soil for about 10 months, hatching when the weather warms.
- Coming down to the ground to lay eggs is risky: that is when females are most often caught by introduced predators.
Sources [11, 12]
0.6–2.4 m daytime perch height in gorse
- By day, radio-tracked Mahoenui giant wētā rested 0.6–2.4 m up inside dense gorse bushes.
- In native trees they hid higher, more than 2.5 m up in the canopy.
- Wētāpunga are less shy: many rest in fairly open spots on trees, clearly visible by day.
Sources [9, 10]
9× safer in browsed gorse
- Gorse is a prickly weed from Europe, but at Mahoenui it shielded the wētā from predators for more than 30 years.
- Goats browsing the gorse kept it tight and dense, and the wētā lived mostly on slopes used by cattle and goats.
- Wētā in regenerating native forest were 9 times more likely to be killed by predators than wētā in browsed gorse.
Sources [10, 11, 12]

Real giant wētā

Photos from Wikimedia Commons of the Mahoenui giant wētā and its relatives. Four of them can repaint the 3D model.

The less common yellow form, on gorse at MahoenuiPhoto: Amanda Haigh (Department of Conservation), CC BY 4.0
Sheltering in gorse, its daytime refugePhoto: Amanda Haigh (Department of Conservation), CC BY 4.0
Wētāpunga (Little Barrier giant wētā)The biggest giant wētā: females reach 82 mm, and DOC says adults weigh up to 35 g. A pregnant female found in 2011 weighed 71 g.IUCN Vulnerable; NZ: Threatened – Nationally IncreasingWētāpunga on Tiritiri Matangi Island, one of its new island homes. Photo: Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia, Public domain
Wētāpunga (Little Barrier giant wētā)The biggest giant wētā: females reach 82 mm, and DOC says adults weigh up to 35 g. A pregnant female found in 2011 weighed 71 g.IUCN Vulnerable; NZ: Threatened – Nationally IncreasingA wētāpunga released on Tiritiri Matangi Island in 2014. Photo: Dinobass, CC BY-SA 4.0
Wētāpunga (Little Barrier giant wētā)The biggest giant wētā: females reach 82 mm, and DOC says adults weigh up to 35 g. A pregnant female found in 2011 weighed 71 g.IUCN Vulnerable; NZ: Threatened – Nationally IncreasingWētāpunga, the heaviest of the giant wētā. Photo: Shaun Lee, CC BY 4.0
Wētāpunga (Little Barrier giant wētā)The biggest giant wētā: females reach 82 mm, and DOC says adults weigh up to 35 g. A pregnant female found in 2011 weighed 71 g.IUCN Vulnerable; NZ: Threatened – Nationally IncreasingResting in a tree hole by day. Photo: Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia, Public domain
A female Cook Strait giant wētā: the tube at her tail is the ovipositorPhoto: Desmond W. Helmore, CC BY 4.0
Cook Strait giant wētā on Matiu/Somes Island, Wellington HarbourPhoto: Wvermaat, Public domain
Poor Knights giant wētā, another tree-dwelling giant wētāPhoto: Dylan van Winkel, CC BY-SA 4.0

Giant wētā by the numbers

Measured by DOC and university scientists, with comparisons you can picture.

Female weight: up to 19 g; Mahoenui adult females; males up to 12 g; Female19 gMale12 g; About the weight of a mouse⁠[11]
Female length: up to 75 mm; a 1998 survey gave 65–74 mm for females and 45–49 mm for males⁠[11, 1]
Wētāpunga record: 71 g; a pregnant female found in 2011: the heaviest insect weighed; Wētāpunga record71 gMahoenui female (max)19 g; Almost 4 times a large Mahoenui female⁠[16, 11]
Eggs per group: ≤100; laid in the soil with the ovipositor⁠[11]
Time as an egg: ≈10 months; laid around March, hatching about a year later⁠[12]
Nymph stages: 9; about a year from hatching to adult⁠[12]
Egg to adult: up to 2 years; adults appear in late summer⁠[11, 12]
Yellow wētā: ≈1 in 3; 39% of females and 23% of males in a 1993 study⁠[11, 12]
Safer in gorse: 9×; predation risk in native bush compared with browsed gorse⁠[10, 11]
Plots with wētā: 50% → 2%; share of monitored reserve plots with wētā, in the 10 years after 2012⁠[18]

Giant wētā myths and facts

Some wētā “facts” online are wrong, and records often get pinned on the wrong species.

0 of 8 answered

“Giant wētā are friendly insects that love to hop around.”
“A giant wētā is the heaviest insect ever weighed.”
“The Mahoenui giant wētā holds the 71 g record.”
“Giant wētā chirp by rubbing their legs together.”
“A prickly weed saved the Mahoenui giant wētā.”
“Giant wētā can fly.”
“Wētā are living fossils that haven’t changed since the dinosaurs.”
““Wētā” is a Māori word.”

Giant wētā records

Heavyweights, survivors and one-of-a-kind colours. Check which wētā holds which record.

Heaviest insect weighed
71 g
Wētāpunga (Deinacrida heteracantha)
a pregnant female found on Little Barrier Island in 2011⁠[16]
Heaviest in captivity
71.3 g
Wētāpunga, captive female
recorded in a 1970s captive study, cited in DOC’s 1998 recovery plan⁠[1]
Longest giant wētā
82 mm
Wētāpunga
female body length; New Zealand’s largest insect⁠[1, 9]
Last lowland giant wētā on the mainland
1 natural population
Mahoenui giant wētā
the only lowland giant wētā still living naturally on New Zealand’s mainland⁠[10, 11]
Only giant wētā with two colour forms
2 colours
Mahoenui giant wētā
dark mahogany brown or yellow⁠[11]
Most giant wētā named in one paper
4 species
George Gibbs (1999)
including the Mahoenui giant wētā, raising the known giant wētā species from 7 to 11⁠[21]

A Mahoenui giant wētā’s life

Up to two years from a buried egg to a spiny adult.

Autumn (about March)
Eggs in the soil
A female comes down from her bush and pushes her ovipositor into the ground, laying groups of up to 100 eggs.⁠[12, 11]
About 10 months
Waiting underground
The eggs stay in the soil and hatch when the weather warms up.⁠[12, 11]
Hatching
A small nymph
A young wētā hatches. Young nymphs may jump away from danger rather than kick.⁠[12, 1]
Over the next year
9 moults
The nymph moults through 9 stages, growing bigger each time. Wētā of many ages live side by side.⁠[12]
Late summer
Adult at last
It becomes an adult and mates. Mahoenui giant wētā seem to stay with one partner.⁠[12]
Every night
Feed and wander
Adults feed at night and rest in gorse by day, moving only a few metres every two days.⁠[10, 1]
Adult female
The risky trip down
To lay eggs, females come down to the ground, where introduced predators are most likely to catch them.⁠[11]

Saving the Mahoenui giant wētā

Found in 1962, protected by gorse, and Nationally Critical by 2022.

1962
Found at Mahoenui
Giant wētā were discovered in patches of tawa forest at Mahoenui in the King Country. DOC calls it a rediscovery of a wētā long thought gone from the mainland.⁠[11, 7]
1987
Wētā in the gorse
More wētā turned up on farmland turning into gorse scrub.⁠[11]
1992
A scientific reserve
The land became a scientific reserve for the wētā.⁠[1, 11]
1993
First island release
More than 200 wētā were released on Mahurangi Island.⁠[1]
1999
A scientific name
Entomologist George Gibbs named the species Deinacrida mahoenui, a survivor of the north’s old lowland forests.⁠[21]
2008
Lessons from releases
A review found very few wētā at two mainland release sites and recommended mammal-free sanctuaries with native forest.⁠[22]
2012–2022
A worrying decline
The share of survey plots with wētā fell from about 50% to about 2% as the gorse grew tall and native bush returned.⁠[18, 10]
2019–2020
Pest control
Rodent control began in 2019; traps for stoats and other mustelids, hedgehogs and feral cats followed in 2020.⁠[18]
2022
Nationally Critical
New Zealand’s threat classification moved the species from At Risk – Recovering to Threatened – Nationally Critical.⁠[18, 23]

Mahoenui giant wētā vs wētāpunga vs tree wētā

Two giant wētā and a smaller, big-headed cousin, side by side.

Mahoenui giant wētā vs wētāpunga vs Auckland tree wētā
	Mahoenui giant wētā	Wētāpunga	Auckland tree wētā
Scientific name⁠[21, 9, 8]	Deinacrida mahoenui	Deinacrida heteracantha	Hemideina thoracica
Wild home⁠[11, 15]	Mahoenui, King Country, plus a few release sites	Hauturu-o-Toi / Little Barrier Island, plus release islands	—
Heaviest adult female⁠[11, 15, 16]	≈19 g	up to 35 g (record 71 g)	—
Female length⁠[11, 1]	up to 75 mm	up to 82 mm	—
Diet⁠[1, 7]	Plants and some insects	Mainly plants	Mainly plants
Male weapons⁠[8, 1]	—	—	Enlarged head and jaws
NZ threat status (2022)⁠[18]	Threatened – Nationally Critical	Threatened – Nationally Increasing	Not Threatened
IUCN Red List⁠[24, 17]	Not assessed	Vulnerable (1996)	—

— means we found no reliable figure. Tree wētā diet follows DOC’s note that wētā are mainly plant-eaters.

Is the Mahoenui giant wētā endangered?

Yes, by New Zealand’s own measure: it is Nationally Critical, with one natural population that has been shrinking.

IUCN Red List

Not Evaluated (NE)

Population decreasing

The IUCN has not assessed this species. New Zealand’s threat classification listed it as At Risk – Recovering in 2012, then moved it to Threatened – Nationally Critical in 2022, after survey plots with wētā fell from about 50% to about 2%.⁠[24, 25, 23, 18]

Not on IUCN Red List; NZ: Nationally Critical 2022

Threats

Introduced predators6 kinds
Rats, mice, hedgehogs, possums, cats and mustelids (stoats, weasels, ferrets) eat wētā, especially females that come down to lay eggs. Ship rats are likely predators in the reserve.⁠[11, 10]
Losing the gorse shield9×
As the reserve turns back into native bush, gorse cover drops. Wētā in native bush were 9 times more likely to be killed than wētā in browsed gorse.⁠[11, 10]
Fire2–3 hours
Gorse burns easily. A fire could wipe out the whole original population in as little as 2–3 hours.⁠[11]
Climate change
More droughts and warmer weather could disrupt breeding, raise the fire risk and favour predators.⁠[11]

What’s helping

A reserve of its own187 ha
DOC bought the land where the wētā were found and made it a scientific reserve. Goats were allowed to browse the gorse to keep it dense.⁠[11, 10, 1]
Pest controlSince 2019
Rodent control started in 2019, and traps for mustelids, hedgehogs and feral cats in 2020.⁠[18]
New homes4 sites
Wētā now also live on Mahurangi Island, in the fenced Warrenheip sanctuary, at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari and at Rotokare. Releases at two unfenced mainland sites did poorly.⁠[11, 22]
Captive rearing
DOC and the Ōtorohanga Kiwi House, with support from local iwi, have started rearing wētā in captivity.⁠[18]
Footprint tunnels1.4 h vs 3 h
Scientists check on giant wētā with tunnels baited with peanut butter that record footprints. Setting tunnels takes less time than searching by hand.⁠[3]

Other giant wētā

Wētāpunga (Little Barrier giant wētā)Vulnerable
IUCN Vulnerable (assessed 1996). It survived only on Hauturu-o-Toi; captive breeding and releases on Motuora and Tiritiri Matangi islands and in 2022 it was listed as Threatened – Nationally Increasing.⁠[17, 18, 15]
Cook Strait giant wētāVulnerable
IUCN Vulnerable (assessed 1996). Its males settle rivalries with ground vibrations.⁠[18, 6]

Giant wētā quiz

12 questions. Every answer is somewhere on this page.

Question 1 of 12Score 0

Where does the Mahoenui giant wētā’s only natural population live?

Giant wētā field notes

Diet, food web, safety and badges from the Snappit field guide.

Diet & Feeding

Giant Weta mostly eats plants and also some other insects. It feeds at night, among the gorse and shrubs where it lives.

Primary Foods

Leaves
Small insects
Foraging Method: Foraging

Ecological connections

Ship RatEaten by
Invasive rats are a major predator of weta nymphs and adults.
Domestic CatEaten by
Feral and pet cats prey on wetas, especially in forest edges.
KaramuEats
Weta will feed on leaves and berries from various native plants.
GorseShelter
Hides deep in prickly gorse bushes by day, where rats and hedgehogs struggle to reach it.

Safety

Danger 2/5 · Low

Don't touch or pick one up. It is a wild animal, and an adult may kick with its spiny hind legs. Leave it alone and tell an adult.

Traits

Collections

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Orthoptera
Family: Anostostomatidae
Genus: Deinacrida

Also known as

Mahoenui giant wētā · Māhoenui giant wētā · Mahoenui weta · Weta

Sources for these giant wētā facts

25 studies and references · checked Oct 16, 2026

Frequently Asked Questions

How to identify Giant wētā?

Look for six legs, antennae, three body sections and the shape of the wings. Beetles have hardened front wings; flies have just one working pair. Tiny insects may need a close view before their group is clear. Insect Identifier: upload a photo and compare the visible details.

How big is Giant wētā?

45-75 mm

How long does Giant wētā live?

730-1095 days

What does Giant wētā eat?

Giant Weta mostly eats plants and also some other insects. It feeds at night, among the gorse and shrubs where it lives.

Where is Giant wētā usually found?

Gorse scrub and regenerating native forest near Mahoenui in New Zealand's King Country.

How many legs does Giant wētā have?

Is the giant wētā the heaviest insect in the world?

A wētāpunga, the Little Barrier giant wētā, holds the Guinness record for the heaviest insect weighed: a pregnant female of 71 g found in 2011. The Mahoenui giant wētā is smaller, at up to about 19 g.

How big is a Mahoenui giant wētā?

Females grow up to 75 mm long and 19 g, about the weight of a mouse. Males are smaller, up to about 12 g.

What do giant wētā eat?

Mostly plants. They feed on leaves at night and also eat some insects. The Mahoenui giant wētā lives mainly in gorse bushes.

Can giant wētā fly or jump?

They are flightless. Adults walk and climb slowly; young nymphs may jump away from danger, but adults raise their spiny hind legs instead.

Is it safe to touch a giant wētā?

Please don’t. Giant wētā are rare wild insects, and a frightened adult raises its spiny hind legs to kick. Watch quietly from a distance, and never take one home.

Why is the Mahoenui giant wētā endangered?

Introduced predators such as rats, hedgehogs and cats eat it. Its gorse refuge is turning into native bush, where wētā are 9 times more likely to be killed, and fire is a constant risk.

Where can you see a giant wētā?

Wētāpunga now also live on islands such as Tiritiri Matangi and Motuora in the Hauraki Gulf. Mahoenui giant wētā live in their reserve and in sanctuaries such as Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari. They hide by day, so sightings are rare.

What does “wētā” mean?

Wētā is a Māori word, short for wētāpunga, the name of the giant wētā that once lived in Northland.

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