My New Zealand Minibeast Report

We have been learning about 'minibeast' in class as a part of science. We have been creating information reports on a minibeast of our choice. The minibeast we chose had to live in New Zealand. Here is my writing. I worked with Mylah, Hannah and Ilish.

Weta report- term 3

This is a piece of writing that we did for our mini beast topic when we were learning about Weta. We had to write an information report on this insect.

Click here to see our success criteria 

Amazing Weta of New Zealand

What is a Weta?

Weta are a native insect to New Zealand.

Weta are cold blooded. They are invertebrates and they
have an exoskeleton. An invertebrate is an animal that has
its skeleton on the outside which is called an exoskeleton.  
They don’t have a spine. Weta look similar to crickets and
Grasshoppers. Crickets and Grasshoppers are related in some
way because they jump the same. They have six legs and they
have two antennae. They have ears on their front legs near
their knees. They have a thorax near their head and their
abdomen. This is some facts about Weta. 

Where do weta live?

Tree weta live in holes in trees, ground weta live in burrows in
the ground, cave weta live in sea coast caves and hollow tree
trunks, tusked weta on the ground and giant weta live in island
sanctuaries. Ground weta live in burrows in the ground. They
do climb trees for food. Cave weta may be found in sea coast
caves and also hollow tree trunks, under houses, tunnels and
under stones. Tusked weta are really rare. The most Weta that
have been seen are the tree weta so if you would like to find
other weta you will have to go and see them at a zoo or nature
reserve.

What do Weta eat?

Most Weta are omnivores. Omnivores eat meat and plants. 
Some Weta are herbivores. Herbivores only eat plants and no
meat. They also eat leaves, fruit, seeds and flowers. Ground
weta spend their day hiding so they can spend their nights
hunting for other insects. Some Weta are carnivorous and eat
small insects, worms and snails.

When do Weta reproduce?

In late spring/early summer the Weta find a mate to breed
with. In autumn, the female will go to a place where they can
stick there ovipositor into the ground. The ovipositor is a tube
that they sick into the ground and the eggs come out of the
ovipositor. The female weta will lay 6-10 eggs at a time.
Through there whole life they can lay up to 300 eggs. The
following spring the weta eggs will hatch and then they will
shed there exoskeleton to grow.

How Weta Behave with other weta

Sometimes the male Weta will fight the other male Weta for
females. They use there claws to fight. The tree Weta live in
groups up to 6-10 while other Weta will live by themselves.
Weta are very energetic like Cave Weta they can jump up to
2 meters long. 

What are some ways that we can help the Weta in the future?

The thing that kills them the most are people are cutting down
there homes. They are also scared of people because we kill t
hem and their homes. Their threats are tuatara, rats, cats and
moreporks because they will see them and try to kill them.
To help Weta in the future we can make a big area that only
New Zealand insects are allowed in and no one is allowed into.
Then an area that only humans are allowed in. The Weta have
been around since before the dinosaurs.

In my summary of my study of the Weta I have learnt how
many people care about Weta. The facts I enjoyed the most
were: No1 The giant Weta can grow up to 35 grams (some
Weta are among the heaviest insects in the world). No2 That
only some Weta bite. Let’s keep the Weta alive. I hope that my
work will inform and educate you to look after our Weta. Thank
you for reading my project on the NZ Weta.

By Billie