Giant Weta, World's Largest Insect, Photographed In New Zealand (PHOTO)

This is the world's largest insect.

The giant weta is a cricket-like creature with a wingspan of close to seven inches. The one in the picture (full image below), isn't just the largest weta, it's the world's largest insect ever photographed.

Renowned entomologist Mark Moffett found the amazing bug after two days of searching New Zealand's Little Barrier Island. The species was previously found on the New Zealand mainland, but had been virtually annihilated by rats introduced by Europeans.

Moffett, 53, located the weta in a tree and proceeded to feed her a carrot.

"She enjoyed the carrot so much she seemed to ignore the fact she was resting on our hands and carried on munching away," Moffett said in a press release. "She would have finished the carrot very quickly, but this is an extremely endangered species and we didn't want to risk indigestion."

Moffett, who said the creature weighed about as much as three mice, quickly let go after the photos were taken.

LOOK:

Comments

[Steve Lord Potty Reekie]

08:01 PM on 12/14/2012

Its odd that they say that a weta has a wingspan of close to seven inches.
..... none of the species of weta have any wings at all.

[Muhammad Murtaza]

04:37 AM on 12/28/2011

giant weta bug has no sense on front of his legs.it is also considered world's Top 10 Largest Bugs Insects .

[chingchong132]

06:12 PM on 12/11/2011

the stretch of the legs put together is also called a wing span

[Dr Kiwi]

05:11 PM on 12/11/2011

The Little Barrier Island weta or wetapunga (Deinacrida heteracantha) is, like all other NZ wetas, wingless... so why describe it as having a wingspan of ~18cm (~7")?

Dr Phil Millener, Chattanooga, TN (formerly National Museum of New Zealand)

[korn]

05:55 AM on 12/07/2011

w0w>>nice insect men^_^

[IndependentAndProud]

02:19 AM on 12/07/2011

Saw the "World's Largest Insect" headline and thought it was a Herman Cain story. My bad.

[The Flying Marshmallow]

10:24 PM on 12/06/2011

Men -- if this insect can crunch through a carrot with ease, it's definitely not the kind of creature that you would want to have land on you while you were in the jungle taking a leak......

[sleona29]

06:52 PM on 12/06/2011

it looks like a cartoon

[andrewgprout]

06:36 PM on 12/06/2011

Think weta would need wings to have a wingspan of any size! Smaller weta are common in suburban NZ - particlarly inside the Gumboot on the back doorstep you are just going to put on.

[Mulebone]

06:08 PM on 12/06/2011

"World's Largest Insect, Photographed In New Zealand"

Not trying to be funny but when I first saw the headline directly above I thought it was another article about Herman Cain.

[schildpad]

12:53 PM on 12/06/2011

Awesome!

[LazarusRises]

06:34 AM on 12/06/2011

Where is a rat when you need one?

[Dicholas Nickerson]

02:34 AM on 12/06/2011

..but the thing is that she doesn't mention that one is spiked the other a chaser to under extremen working conditions XD*
-------------------------------Twinkling ^

[tannervin]

02:26 AM on 12/06/2011

I thought goliath beetles were the world's largest insect? I'd like to see them side-by-side. See them... not be in the same room with them!

[Dicholas Nickerson]

02:24 AM on 12/06/2011

she's double fistn with her Coffey she says