# ID on large insect??



## garthy (Dec 28, 2009)

Does anyone know what this cricket looking thing is? I have tried to find it on the net but have had no luck. It is around 60mm long and and about 15mm in dia at abdomen


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## jordo (Dec 28, 2009)

Looks to be a wingless raspy cricket or king cricket. Some of them can get quite large and give a nasty bite!


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## garthy (Dec 28, 2009)

I saw those but couldn't really match it, the king crickets are supposed to be very rare. Could it be some form of wingless grass hopper?


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## kupper (Dec 28, 2009)

big mofo of a cricket


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## garthy (Dec 28, 2009)

bump


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## AMY22 (Dec 28, 2009)

A weta perhaps?


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## garthy (Dec 28, 2009)

AMY22 said:


> A weta perhaps?



One of the 1st things that crossed my mind, however I dismissed it imediately as I am in the Upper Hunter in NSW and it was found in my strawberry garden.


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## jordo (Dec 28, 2009)

Wetas are the NZ equivalent of our Aussie king crickets. Garthy, king crickets aren't rare, they just spend a large proportion of their time underground so probably aren't encountered often. There are many species and google probably doesn't show all of them  Hope it's not snacking too heavily on the strawberries


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## garthy (Dec 28, 2009)

AMY22 said:


> A weta perhaps?



I have it in front of me now, coparing it to googled images and I think you are 100% spot on....what the hell is it doing in my garden? do people keep these as pets? Has it escaped from someones collection? Is it legal? Should I notify CSIRO or DPI?


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## GeckoJosh (Dec 28, 2009)

Looks like a Weta


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## jordo (Dec 28, 2009)

It's a king cricket (which look like wetas) Wetas are NZ endemics...


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## AMY22 (Dec 28, 2009)

Hmmm that’s very strange, it may be a king cricket as jordo said, I’ve never seen either in real life!


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## AMY22 (Dec 28, 2009)

jordo said:


> It's a king cricket (which look like wetas) Wetas are NZ endemics...


 
Yeah I was thinking to myself I thought wetas were only found in NZ.


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## GeckoJosh (Dec 28, 2009)

I thought they were the same insect but have 2 different names one for NZ one for Aus


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## trogdor1988 (Dec 28, 2009)

King cricket


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## trogdor1988 (Dec 28, 2009)

I've seen and kept most of the katydids and king and raspy crickets around Qld, its not a raspy i doubt. Looks to be an immature king cricket of some kind, yes they can give a nasty bite and most are predatory most likely hunting small insects or frogs in your strawberry garden though they will also eat fruit. Great pets to keep as long as you can figure out what it will and wont eat as some only eat certain things, they do reach larger sizes then 60mm ive seen quite a few large male king crickets over 60mm long.

Cheers


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## garthy (Dec 28, 2009)

Geckoman123 said:


> I thought they were the same insect but have 2 different names one for NZ one for Aus



So why does my king cricket look so different from the google images and those of the Australian Museum (eating Funnel Web) king crickets? One website listed them as rare?


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## trogdor1988 (Dec 28, 2009)

Because there is more then one type of king cricket, there is something like 20 or so species. They all look different except for the general body shape. Also your's is not mature yet by the look of it so most likely not looking like it would when full grown.


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## garthy (Dec 28, 2009)

trogdor1988 said:


> I've seen and kept most of the katydids and king and raspy crickets around Qld, its not a raspy i doubt. Looks to be an immature king cricket of some kind, yes they can give a nasty bite and most are predatory most likely hunting small insects or frogs in your strawberry garden though they will also eat fruit. Great pets to keep as long as you can figure out what it will and wont eat as some only eat certain things, they do reach larger sizes then 60mm ive seen quite a few large male king crickets over 60mm long.
> 
> Cheers


Thanks for that, I might try a little more research and see what happens.


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## Fuscus (Dec 28, 2009)

Looks to me like a Juv Kingie or something in that complex. They are not that rare but are nocturnal and tend to live in forest.
I've attached a pick of an adult male KC and an adult female KC


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## emerald_taipan (Dec 29, 2009)

Yeah its a king cricket. About 10 years ago my dad actually brought one home that he found at a friends house (hanging aroung the light at his mates garage I think) it was quite big. I kept it in a big jar with sphagnum moss for a while and it must have laid eggs as I checked the jar one day and there were all these tiny king crickets in there. I let them go in the garden. This was in Bendigo by the way. I imagine theyre not often found this far south.


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## garthy (Dec 30, 2009)

The kids have named it BINDY, it is now living in a terrarium and loves to eat strawberrys, slugs and any other insects we can throw in.


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## Jdsixtyone (Jan 1, 2010)

My aunty has a whole group in her fruit tree, there is only one piece of fruit left, and it has all holes in it. I would assume that where they laid eggs?


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## PhilK (Jan 1, 2010)

Awesome! I tried keeping a white kneed king cricket but failed pretty spectacularly. You're lucky to have one!

Snakemadness, they usually lay their eggs in the ground. The holes are probably from them eating the fruit.


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## Jdsixtyone (Jan 1, 2010)

Ok i thought they might have done it in the fruit, but iwasnt to sure.


PhilK said:


> Awesome! I tried keeping a white kneed king cricket but failed pretty spectacularly. You're lucky to have one!
> 
> Snakemadness, they usually lay their eggs in the ground. The holes are probably from them eating the fruit.


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## garthy (Jan 8, 2010)

Bindy has been charging along eating strawberries, grapes, spiders, flies, black crickets, grasshoppers and anything else we can catch or pick. She hasn't changed much, I thought she might have developed into an adult by now (going by previous posts) but then.. I may just be a little impatient.


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## potato matter (Jan 8, 2010)

Very pretty king btw.


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