Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Deinacrida connectens
Deinacrida connectens, often referred to as the alpine scree wētā, is one of New Zealand's largest alpine invertebrates and is a member of the Anostostomatidae family. Deinacrida connectens is a flightless nocturnal insect that lives under rocks at high elevation. Mountain populations vary in colour. This species is the most widespread of the eleven species of giant wētā (Deinacrida).
Deinacrida connectens was originally described in 1939 by Swedish entomologist Kjell Ernst Viktor Ander as Deinacridopsis connectens, which was the only species of Deinacridopsis. However, Deinacridopsis was later recognized as a synonym of Deinacrida by New Zealand entomologist Graeme William Ramsay in 1961 and the species was moved to the Deinacrida genus. In the same paper, Ramsay also recognized Deinacrida sonitospina as a synonym of D. connectens, which was previously described by New Zealand entomologist John Salmon in 1950 from specimens found at Mount Peel and Mount Arthur.
Deinacrida connectens is restricted to the South Island of New Zealand, where its distribution extends from the Wharepapa / Arthur Range in North West Nelson to the Takitimu Range in Southland. The range of D. connectens is known to overlap with the range of Deinacrida pluvialis in the western Otago mountains. This relatively widespread species distribution is unusual in the Deinacrida genus, where species usually have a restricted distribution. D. connectens generally inhabits scree slopes in alpine zones at elevations between 1200m and 3600m above sea level, but juveniles have also been found at 990m above sea level. It is not known what factor restricts them to this zone. The lower limit for their elevation range isolates populations on each mountain range.D. connectens has been alleged to be the most abundant species of Deinacrida.
Under the 2022 New Zealand Threat Classification System, Deinacrida connectens is listed as a "Not Threatened" species with the qualifier of "Data Poor: Trend". It is the only species of Deinacrida not totally protected by legislation.
Due to being restricted to high elevation, it is thought that introduced mammalian predators are not a threat to D. connectens populations, since these predators are uncommon in these regions. This is in contrast to other Deinacrida species, which are generally at lower elevation and are more frequently preyed upon by introduced predators, causes a decline in giant wētā species abundance.
Deinacrida connectens is known to be omnivorous, but in the wild is generally observed feeding on plants. D. connectens has been observed in the wild browsing lichens, herbs and shrubs such as Aciphylla and Gaultheria depressa. In captivity D. connectens ate a range of "vegetables" (lettuce, carrot, clover, and dandelion leaves), fruit (apples, apricots), and raw beef, cheese and insects (cicadas, tenebrionid beetles). Feeding generally occurs early at night, after D. connectens has emerged from their daytime cover.
Deinacrida connectens is New Zealand's largest nocturnal alpine insect, but occurs at lower abundance than smaller grasshopper and cockroach species in the same environment. The scree wētā is known to be capable of dispersing some fleshy fruit seeds by endozoochory. In an experiment, D. connectens' ability to disperse seeds of Gaultheria depressa by feeding was found to be dependent on the size of the wētā. At smaller sizes, fewer seeds were eaten and the wētā could be considered seed predators, (almost no seeds made it intact through the guts of individuals measuring 2 cm or less). With larger sized wētā however, thousands of seeds were consumed, some of which were presumably capable of being dispersed large distances, suggesting D. connectens can act as a seed disperser. One captive individual D. connectens was recorded successfully passing 686 intact seeds.
Males of Deinacrida connectens, like other Deinacrida, are smaller than the females. Adult males are about 3.5 cm in length whereas adult females are about 4.5 cm in length. However, one source has described females measuring 7.2 cm long. Body weight of adults has been recorded to reach almost 10g.
Hub AI
Deinacrida connectens AI simulator
(@Deinacrida connectens_simulator)
Deinacrida connectens
Deinacrida connectens, often referred to as the alpine scree wētā, is one of New Zealand's largest alpine invertebrates and is a member of the Anostostomatidae family. Deinacrida connectens is a flightless nocturnal insect that lives under rocks at high elevation. Mountain populations vary in colour. This species is the most widespread of the eleven species of giant wētā (Deinacrida).
Deinacrida connectens was originally described in 1939 by Swedish entomologist Kjell Ernst Viktor Ander as Deinacridopsis connectens, which was the only species of Deinacridopsis. However, Deinacridopsis was later recognized as a synonym of Deinacrida by New Zealand entomologist Graeme William Ramsay in 1961 and the species was moved to the Deinacrida genus. In the same paper, Ramsay also recognized Deinacrida sonitospina as a synonym of D. connectens, which was previously described by New Zealand entomologist John Salmon in 1950 from specimens found at Mount Peel and Mount Arthur.
Deinacrida connectens is restricted to the South Island of New Zealand, where its distribution extends from the Wharepapa / Arthur Range in North West Nelson to the Takitimu Range in Southland. The range of D. connectens is known to overlap with the range of Deinacrida pluvialis in the western Otago mountains. This relatively widespread species distribution is unusual in the Deinacrida genus, where species usually have a restricted distribution. D. connectens generally inhabits scree slopes in alpine zones at elevations between 1200m and 3600m above sea level, but juveniles have also been found at 990m above sea level. It is not known what factor restricts them to this zone. The lower limit for their elevation range isolates populations on each mountain range.D. connectens has been alleged to be the most abundant species of Deinacrida.
Under the 2022 New Zealand Threat Classification System, Deinacrida connectens is listed as a "Not Threatened" species with the qualifier of "Data Poor: Trend". It is the only species of Deinacrida not totally protected by legislation.
Due to being restricted to high elevation, it is thought that introduced mammalian predators are not a threat to D. connectens populations, since these predators are uncommon in these regions. This is in contrast to other Deinacrida species, which are generally at lower elevation and are more frequently preyed upon by introduced predators, causes a decline in giant wētā species abundance.
Deinacrida connectens is known to be omnivorous, but in the wild is generally observed feeding on plants. D. connectens has been observed in the wild browsing lichens, herbs and shrubs such as Aciphylla and Gaultheria depressa. In captivity D. connectens ate a range of "vegetables" (lettuce, carrot, clover, and dandelion leaves), fruit (apples, apricots), and raw beef, cheese and insects (cicadas, tenebrionid beetles). Feeding generally occurs early at night, after D. connectens has emerged from their daytime cover.
Deinacrida connectens is New Zealand's largest nocturnal alpine insect, but occurs at lower abundance than smaller grasshopper and cockroach species in the same environment. The scree wētā is known to be capable of dispersing some fleshy fruit seeds by endozoochory. In an experiment, D. connectens' ability to disperse seeds of Gaultheria depressa by feeding was found to be dependent on the size of the wētā. At smaller sizes, fewer seeds were eaten and the wētā could be considered seed predators, (almost no seeds made it intact through the guts of individuals measuring 2 cm or less). With larger sized wētā however, thousands of seeds were consumed, some of which were presumably capable of being dispersed large distances, suggesting D. connectens can act as a seed disperser. One captive individual D. connectens was recorded successfully passing 686 intact seeds.
Males of Deinacrida connectens, like other Deinacrida, are smaller than the females. Adult males are about 3.5 cm in length whereas adult females are about 4.5 cm in length. However, one source has described females measuring 7.2 cm long. Body weight of adults has been recorded to reach almost 10g.