wetan.
/ˈwɛtə/, U.S. /ˈwɛdə/, New Zealand English /ˈweːtʌː/, /ˈwedə/ New Zealand.
Any of several wingless orthopteran insects of the genus Deinacrida, Pachyrhamma, or Hemideina.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > order Orthoptera > member of
spectre1798
locust1826
orthopteran1842
straight-wing1842
weta1843
orthopteron1880
orthopter1882
taipo1928
1843 E. Dieffenbach Trav. N.Z. II. iii. 396 Weta—an insect so called.
1857 C. Hursthouse N.Z. I. v. 123 The Weta, a suspicious-looking scorpion-like creature, apparently replete with ‘high concocted venom’, but perfectly harmless.
1863 S. Butler First Year Canterbury Settl. ix. 441 One of the ugliest-looking creatures..is called ‘weta’, and is of tawny scorpion-like colour, with long antennae and great eyes, and nasty squashy-looking body, with (I think) six legs.
1889 Trans. & Proc. N.Z. Inst. 1888 21 41 Not a sound was heard in that lonely forest, except..the sharp noise produced by the weta.
1949 F. Sargeson I saw in my Dream i. vii. 52 The children..looked for wetas and huhus.
1961 R. Park Hole in Hill (1962) xiv. 115 A giant glistening black insect..waving its antennae... ‘It's only a weta!’
1975 E. Hillary Nothing venture, Nothing Win ii. 40 When I was making up the bed I found a huge weta..in one of the blankets.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1843