page_title: Deinacrida mahoenui
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Deinacrida mahoenui / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: Large female Mahoenui giant wētā (Deinacrida mahoenui) being handled, dark-brown phase.
context_page_description: Deinacrida mahoenui, the Mahoenui giant wētā, is a flightless insect in the giant wētā family Anostostomatidae. It is endemic to the area of Mahoenui, New Zealand, and the world population for some time was restricted to a single patch of introduced gorse on farmland.
context_section_description: Deinacrida mahoenui is a very large flightless insect: females weigh up to 19 grams (0.67 oz) and can be 75 millimetres (3.0 in) long, while males reach 12 g and 50 mm. Females can be distinguished by their size and their long egg-laying spikes or ovipositors.
  Uniquely amongst giant wētā, D. mahoenui has two colour morphs: mahogany brown (over two thirds of the population) and golden yellow (about 31%). A two-coloured female has even been found, having one side brown and the other yellow.
caption: A Mahoenui giant wētā, showing the common dark mahogany colouration. From its ovipositor it is clearly female.
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