Giant Weta

- H. maori, the mountain stone weta, lives in the drier areas of the South Island high country from the Kaikoura Ranges south to Rock and Pillar Range near Dunedin. At most sites it lives on the ground, under stones or in crevices but in at least two island (within lakes) sites which have not been modified greatly it happily lives both in trees and on the ground.
Mountain stone weta can survive being frozen for months in a state of suspended animation down to temperatures of -10°C. This is because their haemolymph (the insect equivalent of blood) contains special proteins that prevent ice from forming in their cells. It also has the behaviour of "playing dead", by lying still for a short time on its back with legs splayed and claws exposed and jaws wide open ready to scratch and bite.
When the territories of species overlap, as with the related species H. femorata and H. ricta on Banks Peninsula, they may interbreed, although offspring are sterile.