Giant Weta Crickets (Deinacrida spp.) The giant wetas are the world’s heaviest insects. The heaviest ever recorded was a female that weighed 71g (2.5oz). That’s three times the weight of an average house mouse. In fact, wetas are the insect equivalent of mice. They evolved in the small rodent niche because in New Zealand there were no mice to compete with and no nocturnal mammalian predators to hunt them. (via: BBC Nature)       (photo: Peter Reese) View high resolution

Giant Weta Crickets (Deinacrida spp.)

The giant wetas are the world’s heaviest insects. The heaviest ever recorded was a female that weighed 71g (2.5oz). That’s three times the weight of an average house mouse. In fact, wetas are the insect equivalent of mice. They evolved in the small rodent niche because in New Zealand there were no mice to compete with and no nocturnal mammalian predators to hunt them.

(via: BBC Nature)       (photo: Peter Reese)

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