World’s Biggest Insect Found In New Zealand

By on December 2, 2011 in News 44

No word on whether it is available for adoption. Via the Daily Mail:

Mark Moffett’s find is the world’s biggest insect in terms of weight, which at 71g is heavier than a sparrow and three times that of a mouse. The 53-year-old former park ranger discovered the giant weta up a tree and [it] has now been declared the largest ever found. The creepy crawly is only found on Little Barrier Island, in New Zealand, although there are 70 other types of smaller weta found throughout the country.

insect

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  • Candice

    How high can that thing jump! Looks like a massive grasshopper.

  • Theo

    How the fuck is this person holding that thing?

  • trolling

    KILLL IT WITH FIREEEEE!!!!

  • Butter Knife

    It’s likely close to the upper limit of what the exoskeleton can support. There’s a reason insects are small, their proportions and physiology just don’t work once they get too big.

  • http://twitter.com/MerovingianTV Merovingian TV

    what’s the best type of relish to serve it with?

  • Anarchy Pony

    Not within the current atmospheric pressure and composition. Once upon a time arthropods grew much larger. Like the early ancestors of spiders that grew to the size of a dog. and dragonflies with 2 foot wingspans.

  • Anarchy Pony

    Not within the current atmospheric pressure and composition. Once upon a time arthropods grew much larger. Like the early ancestors of spiders that grew to the size of a dog. and dragonflies with 2 foot wingspans.

  • Anarchy Pony

    Not within the current atmospheric pressure and composition. Once upon a time arthropods grew much larger. Like the early ancestors of spiders that grew to the size of a dog. and dragonflies with 2 foot wingspans.

  • Anarchy Pony

    That is the creepiest thing I have seen in… at least four weeks.

  • Anarchy Pony

    That is the creepiest thing I have seen in… at least four weeks.

  • Anarchy Pony

    That is the creepiest thing I have seen in… at least four weeks.

  • Anonymous

    Somebody, quick:  come up with a new emotion between “cute” and “nausea”.

    I will offer up the portmanteua “drolligübel”–being a combination of what I THINK are the German words for “cute” and “nausea”.
    Don’t know.  Don’t speak German.  Just seems like the sort of language you fall back on when you’re looking to express some bizarre paradox.

  • Anonymous

    Somebody, quick:  come up with a new emotion between “cute” and “nausea”.

    I will offer up the portmanteua “drolligübel”–being a combination of what I THINK are the German words for “cute” and “nausea”.
    Don’t know.  Don’t speak German.  Just seems like the sort of language you fall back on when you’re looking to express some bizarre paradox.

  • Anonymous

    Somebody, quick:  come up with a new emotion between “cute” and “nausea”.

    I will offer up the portmanteua “drolligübel”–being a combination of what I THINK are the German words for “cute” and “nausea”.
    Don’t know.  Don’t speak German.  Just seems like the sort of language you fall back on when you’re looking to express some bizarre paradox.

  • DeepCough

    At first, I thought that insect was eatin’ a finger.

  • Mousewankjello

    Adorapuke

  • Zero

    Look at that cutie!

  • Zero

    Look at that cutie!

  • Zero

    Look at that cutie!

  • Zero

    Look at that cutie!

  • Anonymous

    Spiders the size of dogs!

  • http://twitter.com/PostConsumerWat Davi Jame

    oo I want one!!  <3   you know in Asia insects are often kept as pets..   =]

  • Anonymous

    I live in New Zealand and if you think wetas are freaky looking creatures then you can only imagen what it’s like having those things drop on you while caving in the dark. not nice. And they bite.

  • Meric Slovaine

    here’s the insane thing about a weta – they can freeze to death and THEN COME BACK TO LIFE.  their blood lacks the enzymes that make it crystalize (what kills most things) in extremely cold temperature.  they not only hibernate, they die and resurrect. 

  • Hadrian999

    when i first saw the pic i thought it was some kind of inter-dimensional  alien porn

  • http://www.facebook.com/BatWeasel1 Bat Weasel

    cute

  • http://www.facebook.com/BatWeasel1 Bat Weasel

    cute

  • Anonymous

    weird…i had a similar reaction, finding it somewhat adorable….

  • http://twitter.com/biohealth biohealth

    Where’s Andrew Zimmern?

  • http://hormeticminds.blogspot.com/ Chaorder Gradient

    I want one!

  • Heath

    hey! Someone tell that grasshopper he could have just bought a sports car..

  • Alis

    Just need some chocolate and you’d have the ultimate chocolate covered “grasshopper”! YUM!

  • http://buzzcoastin.posterous.com BuzzCoastin

    the headline is misleading
    i thought they had found Cheney hiding in NZ
    he’s the world’s biggest insect, followed closely by Bush

  • John Smith

    If there’s a nuclear holocaust, this little guy is going to outlive us humans.

  • Psychotcturtle

    that wont help much unles you have a realy hot flame

  • Anonymous

    He looks like Mr. Peanut….

  • Anonymous

    Miley Cyrus

  • SpaceAnimal

    ..that’s a weird looking penis.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Michal-Fryzlewicz/100001339715617 Michal Fryzlewicz

    looks tasty

  • justagirl

    heh!!  i thought it was… nevermind..

  • Igwig

    schöne Übelkeit

  • Iwgiw

    schöne Übelkeit 

  • Iwgiw

    schöne Übelkeit 

  • Cheryl

    it’s a giant grasshopper!