Kōrero: European discovery of plants and animals

This giant wētā (Deinacrida heteracantha) was collected by missionary and naturalist William Colenso around 1838–39, at Paihia in the Bay of Islands. It was over 40 years before this species was officially described, in 1880. Known to Māori as wētāpunga, the insects now occur naturally only on Little Barrier Island.