Deinacrida mahoenui
Meet an armoured tank that has made great use of gorse to ensure its own survival.
Most of our giant wētā species are found high in the mountains or on offshore islands where there are no rodents or other predators, yet the Mahoenui giant wētā is surviving in the southern King Country, where predators are present. How? Remarkably, it owes its survival to a weed, specifically gorse. Gorse spines are not much bother for an insect built like an armoured tank, but they make life unpleasant for mammalian predators. As the gorse is grazed by goats it becomes very dense, which makes it very hard for predators to penetrate. Without the gorse, this species might have gone extinct without us ever knowing it was there.
As well as having an unconventional home, the Mahoenui wētā has a characteristic unique amongst giant wētā. While most specimens are brown, some individuals are instead very yellow, and there is a record of a female that had a mix of both colours. Females can reach 75 mm in length, while males are around 50 mm long.
While gorse might have saved this species, this habitat is quite vulnerable to fire. Since its discovery, the Mahoenui wētā has been introduced to several reserves but is still under threat and is classified as Nationally Endangered under the New Zealand Threat Classification System.
Check these links for more info on the Mahoenui Giant Wētā in NZ
Wikipedia: Information on the Mahoenui Giant Wētā
images
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