Maori name for a New Zealand insect – – a huge, ugly grasshopper, Deinacrula megacephala,called by bushmen the Sawyer.
1857. C. Hursthouse, `New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 123:
«The weta, a suspicious-looking, scorpion-like creature,apparently replete with `high concocted venom,' but perfectlyharmless.»
1863. S. Butler, `First Year in Canterbury Settlement,'p. 141:
«One of the ugliest-looking creatures that I have ever seen.It is called `Weta,' and is of tawny scorpion-like colour,with long antenna and great eyes, and nasty squashy-lookingbody, with (I think) six legs. It is a kind of animal which noone would wish to touch: if touched, it will bite sharply, somesay venomously. It is very common but not often seen, andlives chiefly among dead wood and under stones.»
1888. J. Adams, `On the Botany of Te Moehau,' `Transactions ofNew Zealand Institute,' vol. xxi. art. ii. p. 41:
«Not a sound was heard in that lonely forest, except at longintervals the sharp noise produced by the weta.»