DSC_0144 Otago ground weta (Hemiandrus maia) female eating a recently emerged Darkling beetle (Tenebrionidae) on a humid night. This species has an unusually short ovipositor for a weta. The species name 'maia' - meaning good mother - refers to the fact that instead of ovipositing her eggs in the ground and leaving them as other weta do, this species practises maternal care, guarding both eggs and offspring in a special underground brooding chamber, until they are large enough to look after themselves. Blue Mountains *
DSC_0122 Otago ground weta (Hemiandrus maia) female. The species name 'maia' - meaning good mother - refers to the fact that instead of ovipositing her eggs in the ground and leaving them as other weta do, this species practises maternal care, guarding both eggs and offspring in a special underground brooding chamber, until they are large enough to look after themselves. Blue Mountains *
DSC_0147 Otago ground weta (Hemiandrus maia) female eating a recently emerged Darkling beetle (Tenebrionidae) on a humid night. This species has an unusually short ovipositor for a weta. The species name 'maia' - meaning good mother - refers to the fact that instead of ovipositing her eggs in the ground and leaving them as other weta do, this species practises maternal care, guarding both eggs and offspring in a special underground brooding chamber, until they are large enough to look after themselves. Blue Mountains *
