• New insect discovered, with a catch: its mass is 3 times that of a mouse.
    177 replies, posted
[quote][img]http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/12/01/article-2068547-0F02AA4600000578-402_634x436.jpg[/img][img]http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/12/01/article-2068547-0F02AA4A00000578-492_634x370.jpg[/img][/quote] [quote]He came across the cricket-like creature, which has a wing span of seven inches, after two days of searching on a tiny island. The creepy crawly is only found on Little Barrier Island, in New Zealand, although there are 70 other types of smaller weta found throughout the country. The giants of the species were wiped off the mainland by rats accidentally introduced by Europeans. After Mark found the female weta he fed it the carrot before putting it back where he found her. Mark, 53, said: ‘Three of us walked the trails of this small island for two nights scanning the vegetation for a giant weta. ‘We spent many hours with no luck finding any at all, before we saw her up in a tree. ‘The giant weta is the largest insect in the world, and this is the biggest one ever found, she weighs the equivalent to three mice. ‘She enjoyed the carrot so much she seemed to ignore the fact she was resting on our hands and carried on munching away. ‘She would have finished the carrot very quickly, but this is an extremely endangered species and we didn't want to risk indigestion. ‘After she had chewed a little I took this picture and we put her right back where we found her.’ Mark, from Colorado, America, added: ‘We bug lovers hear a lot of people who think insects are inferior in some way because of their size, so it was great to see such a big insect. ‘This became all the more amazing when we realised that this was the largest insect recorded.’ Read more: [url]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2068547/Meet-worlds-heaviest-insect-weighs-times-mouse.html#ixzz1fI85g6yg[/url] [/quote] [url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2068547/Meet-worlds-heaviest-insect-weighs-times-mouse.html#ixzz1fI2SfGhc]Daily Mail Source[/url]
NOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPE The worst part is that I've picked up large bugs before and they're all warm because they're big and that thing is huge and it would be like holding a hamster and ughhhh
That's really cool.
I just recoiled in absolute horror at those pictures.
That's fricking awesome looking.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRT4IQ9TmRw[/media]
That first picture is kinda cute.
I wonder who would win in a fight against an actual mouse
I want one.
So it's a huge ass cricket? I guess it's jaws can bite quite hard knowing the green ones already sting and they're so much smaller than this. Oh it's missing wings, strange
Jurassic park.
[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;33520704]So it's a huge ass cricket? I guess it's jaws can bite quite hard knowing the green ones already sting and they're so much smaller than this. Oh it's missing wings, strange[/QUOTE] It can eat through a carrot, so...
It looks like it has a huge stinger on it's butt, unless that's like a mini tail or something.
[B]I want one,[/B] [u]how long would it take to domesticate it?[/u] [I]A month, year, decade, century, millennium?[/I] I'm serious, I want one.
The smaller cousins are pretty much domesticated already.
I think would make for a pretty awesome pet.
That's pretty wicked
[QUOTE=Wilford Brimley;33520692]I wonder who would win in a fight against an actual mouse[/QUOTE] [QUOTE]The giants of the species were wiped off the mainland by rats accidentally introduced by Europeans.[/QUOTE] Read the article, please.
Oh god no. I am never going to visit New Zealand now. :suicide:
this is cool but i can't stand insects or spiders enlarged. they're so fucking scary and ugly ):
Remember all those nukes important countries are storing they could do some good in New Zealand right now
D'aw, it's kinda cute!
Why do insects have spikes all over them?
[QUOTE=DohEntertainmen;33520773][B]I want one,[/B] [u]how long would it take to domesticate it?[/u] [I]A month, year, decade, century, millennium?[/I] I'm serious, I want one.[/QUOTE] How exactly do you domesticate an insect? its not like a dog it's not sentient... or is it?
Cute.
Anybody else think that thing looks incredibly cute.
[QUOTE=plappy03;33520746]It looks like it has a huge stinger on it's butt, unless that's like a mini tail or something.[/QUOTE] If it's like crickets then it's just horns on it's ass, they can't actually move or sting. Some crickets have horns like this and some have these long sword-like things. Could be related to gender maybe, I am not an insect expert. Why does it say "wing span" in the article if it has no wings? Or does that have some other meaning in english?
That is so awesome! I love gigantism! [editline]1st December 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=AceOfDivine;33520934]If it's like crickets then it's just horns on it's ass, they can't actually move or sting. Some crickets have horns like this and some have these long sword-like things. Could be related to gender maybe, I am not an insect expert. Why does it say "wing span" in the article if it has no wings? Or does that have some other meaning in english?[/QUOTE] First, females have those "spikes". I'm fairly sure it's what they use to lay their eggs. So, no, it's not a deadly weapon meant to sting the hands of curious humans. Fear-mongering. Second, crickets have wings. They simply don't fly using them, they glide. Wings =/= Flight. Under the layer of chitinous exowings, they store their actual wings. Although wetas don't seem to have wings, true...
Where is a pokeball want you need one.
I'd have a heart attack if I found that in my house.
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