The giant Weta bug supposedly went extinct after Europeans brought rats to New Zealand’s Little Barrier Island many years ago. However, a former park ranger and his assistants spent two nights combing the island for one – coming up with this huge example, which was found in a tree.
The pulled her down and gave her a carrot before snapping some photos:
“She enjoyed the carrot so much she seemed to ignore the fact she was resting on our hands and carried on munching away. She would have finished the carrot very quickly, but this is an extremely endangered species and we didn’t want to risk indigestion. After she had chewed a little I took this picture and we put her right back where we found her.”
With a wingspan of seven inches and a weight equivalent to three mice, this giant Weta was deemed the largest insect ever recorded.
