Meet the world's heaviest insect.

I am terrified and in awe of this creature all at once....the power of nature never ceases to blow my mind. He's a beauty, but don't get it twisted, I am happy I do not live anywhere near that fella.....

Really great thread, I love learning about new stuff like this, ATS can be so serious sometimes, threads like this are a nice change of pace!

I wonder if you can teach it tricks?
Do insects brains have that capability ?

Looks like a giant cricket!

Wonder what my golden gecko would think if he ssaw that thing...he usually loves cricket snacks!

reply to post by tarifa37


I was expecting a picture of Michael Moore.

But this is pretty cool too.

I see these everyday around my garden, they are called WETAS! harmless beautiful creatures, my mum would rather kill them whereas i always grab them and say they are a conscious being like us and deserve to live and experience the planet as well so i take them to a tree whenever they room into the house or backyard. Ah well time to hit the garden now, who knows i may have one climb up my leg or jump on my back while i'm there!! HAHAHA...

I live in New Zealand, and in my home town of Newlands, we have an endemic Weta species aptly named "The Newlands Weta"

I find them in my garage/mancave at least once every fortnight, outside every 2nd day.
They still scare me a little when I'm not expecting it to be walking across the ground towards me, but if I see one in the tree's or bush around our property, I'll go and pick it up.

They are so totally harmless usually, unless it's a Female in "season".., they just look scary..

Anyway... One night a few years back, I thought I had some sellotape in the bed, between my legs.. proceeded to grab it, and put it in front of my eyes on the pillow (In the dark...)

I still didn't realise what it was until the morning, when I awoke...

There it was on the bed side stand.... staring at me... Little bastard !

Gotta love em !

I caught a couple of these in front of my house last year.the only weighed in at about 57 grams each.

Meet your ambassador to the overlord race!!!!

Bow to the insect elite!!!!

up until now i thought this was the heaviest bug




bugs called he wants hes carrot back

reply to post by tarifa37




Dang... Just one of them would make a great sandwich. Add a little mayo. No wait. Plenty of mayo like goo inside 'em. Maybe a slice of pickle and some mustard.

Watch out though. When you take the first bite he might bite back.

Yummmm

Pretty cool! Despite not being green, a seemingly more friendly insect color, interest could catch on.

The only good thing about our giant wetas down here is they arent like their flax and tree bark living cousins the big black headed male tree wetas...

Those black headed ones have huge pincers and a temper fit for an animal 100 times their size... still give me the willies and i wasn't the kid attacked by one

Havent seen many where i live now, i guess its just to damn cold... although instead we ive been flyby'd by Huhu beetles at night... nothing like looking down after feeling a thud in the darkness and seeing a beetle about 4 inches long 1.5 inches wide with a leg span around 6 inches stuck to your chest. We've even got a a gum tree otuside which hatches at least one emperor gum moth a year, big suckers.

I made quite a womanly sound to be honest.

Originally posted by tarifa37
reply to post by SmoKeyHaZe

 

According to the article it could eat it fairly quickly although they didnt want the poor thing to get indigestion so they put it back in the tree after taking the picture. Interesting feature is that the monster insect can FLY, now that would scare the life out of me if it flew into my house

edit on 1-12-2011 by tarifa37 because: (no reason given)

This one can't fly, none of the NZ species are flighted, although it is big enough that I wouldn't want it running ate me.

They are nocturnal and all New Zealand species are flightless.

Source

Originally posted by hmistry


Anyway... One night a few years back, I thought I had some sellotape in the bed, between my legs.. proceeded to grab it, and put it in front of my eyes on the pillow (In the dark...)

I still didn't realise what it was until the morning, when I awoke...

There it was on the bed side stand.... staring at me... Little bastard !

Gotta love em !

Best giant bug story so far. That would have totally freaked me out.

Originally posted by Skorpiogurl
reply to post by SmoKeyHaZe

 

LOL... sorry.
But in my mind I have already named her and bought her a small dog bed

and a little tiny leash... haha

I don't see how anybody could say that it is any less cute then a Gila monster or a snake, and many people keep them as pets. It's cuter than a Chinese Crested dog, IMO.



The Chinese have kept crickets as good luck pets for millennia, imagine the luck you could get from something that big.

Man that's big I wonder if this could be the future Easter bunny!

reply to post by EyesWideShut


Man, if you are talking pure biomass protein on the planet, insects are the way to go. Most cultures have consumed them for millennia, and most of the ones I've tried are pretty good, although it can depend on the method of preparation, sauted works pretty good for soft bodied insects, and just about any method for the hard bodied ones.

reply to post by tarifa37


turns out there are heavier insects out there like the following

In the case of the largest Goliathus species (G. goliatus, G. regius, and G. orientalis), larvae are capable of growing up to 130 mm (5 in.) in length, and reaching weights in excess of 100 grams.

www.naturalworlds.org...

Now that will be sweet to have in a terrarium in my room, but isn't that a cricket?

I bet when he starts making noise you will feel like at a heavy metal concert .

wicked! this is incredible! i was bitten by a large grasshopper when i was young,and it hurt like hell,but this guy would remove a digit i would think!
imagine a swarm of these guys like locusts coming to your town! biblical plague or what!!!
very cool bug that demands respect! probably make a healthy meal!
nice find buddy!