Welcome back! I hope you had an amazing weekend and are wide awake and excited to learn about some interesting animals. To be honest, I don’t know of too many animals that are more interesting than the worlds heaviest insect, the Giant Weta! This particular insect is endemic to New Zealand and is a textbook example of island gigantism. Just so you know, island gigantism occurs when there is an absence of large carnivores present on the island ecosystem. As a result, the inhabitants of this island are free to grow as large as they like to fill in the available niches. So let’s take a trip to the island to see if we can learn a little more about the Giant Weta.

Heaviest Insect in the World!

As mentioned, the Giant Weta is the heaviest insect on our planet weighing in at an average weight of 35 grams (1.23 oz); however, the weight of one recorded female was an astounding 75 grams (2.5 oz). This may not sound that impressive but these insects are actually heavier than your standard Sparrow. Yep, this insect is heavier than a bird. So what does the Giant Weta eat to get this big?

Feast Fit for a Mouse

Remember when I briefly defined island gigantism? Well, the Giant Weta ended taking over the role of the rodent since their were no mice around to compete with. Similarly, there were no larger predators to worry about so this was the perfect niche for this over-sized insect to fill. Although they may be giants of the insect world, the Giant Weta prefers to be a vegetarian feasting on leaves, roots and any other piece of vegetation. See, not all giants are scary!

Giant Weta Fast Facts

We are going to try something different today and provide you with legitimate “Fast Facts” about the amazing Giant Weta, so here we go:

The Giant Weta is so heavy that they literally can’t jump;

The Weta hasn’t really changed their appearance over the last 100 million years;

The parents will die before their eggs begin to hatch;

The Giant Weta is often referred to as the “Dinosaur of the Insect World”.

I hope you enjoyed those random facts and had a great time learning about the impressive Giant Weta. I think these insects alone are worth the long flight to New Zealand.  Have a great day and I will see you tomorrow.