Morgan-Richards: Taxonomic status of tree weta from Stephens Is.

Morgan-Richards, M., Daugherty, C.H. and Gibbs, G.W. 1995 Taxonomic status of tree weta from Stephens Island, Mt. Holdsworth and Mt. Arthur, based on allozyme variation. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand Vol 25(2) June 1995: 301-312. (3 copies)

Sort of a tedious account of genetic relationships. Researchers undertook an analysis of allozyme variation of tree weta from 13 sites including Stephens Island to find out whether the tree weta on that island should be viewed as a separate species. They came to the conclusion that the population is sufficiently different to warrant taxonomic recognition.

Morgan-Richards (1995): New species of tree weta from North Island

Morgan-Richards, M 1995 A new species of tree weta from the North Island of new Zealand (Hemideina: Stenopelmatidae: Orthoptera). New Zealand Entomologist, 1995, Vol 18: 15-23 (3 copies)

New discovery from Hawkes Bay. Differs from Wellington tree weta only in the colouration of the pronotum (upper surface of the protorax; the foremost section of thorax) – it is light yellow/orange. It also differs in two different allozyme loci and karyotype. I don’t really think this is of much use to Team Weta.

Ordish, R.G. 1992 Aggregation and communication of the Wellington weta Hemideina crassidens (Blanchard) (Orthoptera: Stenopelmatidae). New Zealand Entomologist 1992 Vol 15:1-8. (2 copies)

• Discusses aggregation of tree weta: their interactions with each other and whether they form clusters

• Also discusses stridulation (noise makin’!) and talks a little about how their morphology contributes to this ability. I

• Stridulation is their principal means of communication and is used primarily for defense, territorial, and eviction calls. The article describes these calls.