Weta - Taxonomy and Evolution

Taxonomy and Evolution

Fossilized orthopterans have been found in Russia, China, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, but the relationships are very open to different interpretations. Certainly, most weta of both families are in the Southern Hemisphere lands. Pratt, Morgan-Richards and Trewick think weta were present in ancient Gondwanaland before New Zealand separated from it, although they possibly dispersed as they must have done so to colonise New Caledonia and the Chatham Islands. Although they are of an ancient lineage, the present species are quite young, which conflicts with those earlier ideas about dispersal of weta forebears around the Southern Hemisphere (Wallis et al. 2000).

Giant, tree, ground, and tusked weta are all members of the family Anostostomatidae (formerly in the Stenopelmatidae, but recently separated (Johns, 1997)). Cave weta are members of the family Rhaphidophoridae called cave crickets or camel crickets elsewhere, in a different ensiferan superfamily.