Deinacrida heteracantha
InsectWikipedia
8
MENTIONS
6
EPISODES
6
PODCASTS
Search complete. 8 mentions across 6 episodes found for "Deinacrida heteracantha".
Oct 7, 2026
Nil KöksalHOST
Back in a bug way, there was a time when scientists seeking the world's heaviest insect heard nothing but crickets.
Nil KöksalHOST
But now our guest says New Zealand's giant wetapunga have rebounded in spectacular fashion.
Chris HowdenHOST
And chatting him up and up and up.
Chris HowdenHOST
We'll hear from one of the rescuers of a BC teenager who went on a hike with the assistance of Claude, Anthropic's AI chatbot, only to find himself clinging to a cliff called the Widowmaker.
37 MINS LATER
Nil KöksalHOST
In preparing for our conversation, I've become more acquainted with wetapunga, lots of pictures.
Nil KöksalHOST
How would you describe them to our listeners?
Richard GibsonGUEST
It's just a big fat giant cricket, but an extraordinary one.
Richard GibsonGUEST
They don't have wings.
Jake C.HOST
[laughs] You gotta sick these on the pigs.
Ryan S.HOST
Wētāpunga, or little barrier giant wētā, used to be widespread in Northland and Auckland, but by the '90s, only one remnant population remained in one little place.
Ryan S.HOST
That population was found to be dwindling, and it was decided there were far t- there were too few of the wētāpunga to directly start a wild colony, so small numbers were collected to begin an intensive breeding...
Ryan S.HOST
Why? Why? Tens of thousands have been bred at Butterfly Creek in Auckland and at Auckland Zoo.
Kennedy WarneGUEST
This is a, a paper that's just been published in the, uh, New Zealand Journal of Zoology covering the last ten years, I suppose.
Kennedy WarneGUEST
Um, um, yeah, roughly ten years of, of the wetapunga saga.
Kennedy WarneGUEST
Wetapunga, um, one...
Kennedy WarneGUEST
Well, our largest and heaviest giant wētā.
Kennedy WarneGUEST
We have something like 100 diff- wētā species in New Zealand, all endemic, found nowhere else in the world.
Kennedy WarneGUEST
Wetapunga, largest.
Kennedy WarneGUEST
Um, uh, uh, the females are about the weight of a sparrow.
Kennedy WarneGUEST
Uh, a female with eggs would be double that, the weight of a thrush.
TheoCORRESPONDENT
It's 9 o'clock.
TheoCORRESPONDENT
Aotearoa's heaviest and formerly endangered insect, the wetāpunga, is now a recovering species.
TheoCORRESPONDENT
Wetāpunga faced a decline in the 1990s, with its surviving population remaining in Little Barrier Island.
TheoCORRESPONDENT
Conservationists began an intensive breeding population, with thousands now bred at Butterfly Creek and Auckland Zoo.
TheoCORRESPONDENT
The insect was classed as a nationally endangered species in 2004, but ongoing efforts have moved it into a nationally recovering species.
StormHOST
Okay.
TeganHOST
Wetāpunga have officially shifted from endangered to recovering following a breeding programme at Auckland Zoo and Butterfly Creek.
Nixon ClarkHOST
What's the English name for that?
TeganHOST
Weta.
TheoCORRESPONDENT
It's nine o'clock.
TheoCORRESPONDENT
Aotearoa's heaviest and formerly endangered insect, the wētāpunga, is now a recovering species.
TheoCORRESPONDENT
Wētāpunga faced a decline in the 1990s, with its surviving population remaining in Little Barrier Island.
TheoCORRESPONDENT
Conservationists began an intensive breeding population, with thousands now bred at Butterfly Creek and Auckland Zoo.
TheoCORRESPONDENT
The insect was classed as a nationally endangered species in 2004, but ongoing efforts have moved it into a nationally recovering species.