Latest Articles from Journal of Orthoptera Research Latest 2 Articles from Journal of Orthoptera Research https://jor.pensoft.net/ Thu, 28 Mar 2024 16:15:45 +0200 Pensoft FeedCreator https://jor.pensoft.net/i/logo.jpg Latest Articles from Journal of Orthoptera Research https://jor.pensoft.net/ Notes on the distribution, ecology, and life history of Maotoweta virescens (Orthoptera, Rhaphidophoridae, Macropathinae) and a comparison of two survey methods https://jor.pensoft.net/article/86076/ Journal of Orthoptera Research 32(1): 43-53

DOI: 10.3897/jor.32.86076

Authors: James M. H. Tweed, Michael Wakelin, Bruce McKinlay, Tara J. Murray

Abstract: When described in 2014, Maotoweta virescens was believed to be one of New Zealand’s rarest cave wētā (Rhaphidophoridae). Here, we present new information about the distribution, ecology, and life history of the species. M. virescens has now been recorded from indigenous forest sites throughout the length of the western South Island, where it can occur in relatively high abundance. M. virescens shows a close association with arboreal mosses, particularly Weymouthia mollis, roosting within them during the day and feeding on them at night. The wētā has also been documented feeding on lichens and dead insects. The species is hypothesized to have a lifecycle of approximately one year, closely linked to season. Eggs are thought to hatch out relatively quickly after being laid in summer and early autumn, with the species overwintering as nymphs and maturing the following late spring through to early-autumn. Further work is required to fully understand its biology. A comparison was made between active night searching and vegetation beating as two different methods for the detection and monitoring of M. virescens. Beating of W. mollis and other suitable M. virescens microhabitats was found to be significantly more effective than night searching. Our results show that M. virescens is widespread and can occur at relatively high densities within South Island temperate forests, with the species’ perceived rarity to date largely owing to a lack of survey effort and the past use of ineffective sampling methods.

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Research Article Fri, 24 Mar 2023 11:34:26 +0200
Population expansion by Cook Strait giant wētā, Deinacrida rugosa (Orthoptera: Anostostomatidae), following translocation to Matiu/Somes Island, New Zealand, and subsequent changes in abundance https://jor.pensoft.net/article/21712/ Journal of Orthoptera Research 26(2): 171-180

DOI: 10.3897/jor.26.21712

Authors: Corinne Watts, Danny Thornburrow, Ian Stringer, Vanessa Cave

Abstract: Wētā, large wingless anostostomatid orthopterans, have been the most frequently translocated insects in New Zealand. Until recently, such translocations were only monitored intermittently to confirm presence. We investigate the spread of Cook Strait giant wētā (Deinacrida rugosa Buller, 1871) after its release on Matiu/Somes Island, Wellington, New Zealand, in 1996. Adult wētā were surveyed from 2008 to 2016 using footprint tracking tunnels and/or searching with spotlights at night. The population underwent a reversal in distributional abundance after 2008. In 2008, they were abundant in the north and rare in the south but by 2013 and 2015 they were relatively less abundant in the north and common in the south. Why they diminished in the north remains unknown but possible causes are predation on juvenile wētā by nocturnal geckos (detected in the north and east but not in the south), by some habitat change (mostly reduction of some lawn), or by a combination of these together with removal of wētā from the north for translocation elsewhere. Further research is required to confirm which of these factors affect wētā abundance, if there are other causes, and if any further change in distributional abundance occurs.

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Research Article Wed, 6 Dec 2017 09:28:38 +0200