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11,000 Bred Wētāpunga Bring World's Heaviest Insect Back
By @sharedot · · 7 pages
- Positive
- Conservation
- Wildlife
- New Zealand
Zoos have bred and released 11,214 giant wētāpunga across New Zealand, lifting the world's heaviest insect from endangered to increasing.
What happened: a giant bug saved
Chris Green of the Department of Conservation. The wētāpunga, New Zealand's heaviest insect and the heaviest orthopteran in the world, had vanished from the mainland by the middle of the 20th century after rats, stoats and cats wiped it out, leaving it only on Te Hauturu-o-Toi/Little Barrier Island in the Hauraki Gulf.
Why it is surprising: insects rarely get this
Most translocation programs focus on vertebrates, so a breeding-and-release effort at this scale for an insect is extraordinary. Dr. Green, quoted by aol.com, called 11,000 individuals for release 'extraordinary and outstanding' and said the paper summarizes one of the most comprehensive case studies of invertebrate conservation breeding, translocation and species recovery ever undertaken in Aotearoa New Zealand, perhaps the world. According to aol.com, he is not aware of any other breeding programme working to this scale or with such success.
The evidence: generations born in the wild
The first release took place on Motuora Island in 2010, and by November 2025 researchers had found what they infer to be fourth-generation adults on both Motuora and Tiritiri Matangi, and a fifth generation at one site — the highest standard of success for a translocation. According to the earth.com article carried by aol.com, one survey recorded up to 28.5 insects per person per hour of searching on some islands, compared with 1.4 on the source island after rats were removed. No deaths were recorded during any transfer. One female in captivity produced as many as 1,350 young, and up to 80 percent of the young in a communal cage survived to release.
The stakes: status upgraded, a template created
The wētāpunga was ranked Nationally Endangered when the programme started; in 2022 it moved to Threatened – Nationally Increasing. 'This species was endangered at the start of the programme, it is now not endangered – it is recovering,' Green told RNZ, as quoted in the earth.com report. aol.com reports the females can weigh as much as a mouse, grow up to 10cm long and have a leg span as wide as 20cm, making them the largest of 70 wētā species. The authors credit Ngāti Manuhiri, the Māori tribe that is kaitiaki, or guardian, of the wētāpunga, along with community restoration groups that raised money and helped with releases.
What comes next: lessons for other bugs
Questions remain: the new populations trace back to a small number of founders, and DNA samples collected in 2018 and 2019 will help the team check genetic health, while the two mainland sanctuaries still have mice, and whether wētāpunga can thrive alongside them is one thing the releases were designed to answer. But the outlook is warm. 'The future of wētāpunga is looking bright,' Green said. aol.com reports the techniques are now guiding breeding of the threatened Māhoenui giant wētā, and Green suggested the Canterbury knobbled weevil and several native stag beetle species could benefit from similar programmes.