"IT IS REMARKABLE that some of the largest and heaviest insects in the world are still being discovered in New Zealand in the late 20th century," says Morris. First seen in the 1980s, the Mercury Islands' tusked weta (still unnamed by taxonomists) has remarkable two-centimetre-long tusks used for ritual combat. The species shows how vulnerable island populations can be, occurring only in a couple of hectares of forest on one island of the Mercury group. The weta has evolved alongside the tuatara, two rare species of skink, and a giant centipede. "It is one of those extraordinary islands," says Morris, "which provide an insight into what New Zealand must have been like in the past."

Forest and Bird, Issue 268, 1 May 1993, Page 15

"IT IS REMARKABLE that some of the largest and heaviest insects in the world are still being discovered in New Zealand in the late 20th century," says Morris. First seen in the 1980s, the Mercury Islands' tusked weta (still unnamed by taxonomists) has remarkable two-centimetre-long tusks used for ritual combat. The species shows how vulnerable island populations can be, occurring only in a couple of

hectares of forest on one island of the Mercury group. The weta has evolved alongside the tuatara, two rare species of skink, and a giant centipede. "It is one of those extraordinary islands," says Morris, "which provide an insight into what New Zealand must have been like in the past."