Why did FOF champion the Mt Arthur giant wētā Bug of the Year, 2024?

Wayne Elia, one of FOF's founding members, captured the spirit of Tibio

• To highlight the importance of invertebrates. Without bugs there would be no roroa, no whio, no titipounamu in the Flora and many of our iconic plants would be lost. Yet bugs are often overlooked and don't get much attention when it comes to conservation management. So, good on the organisers at the Entomological Society of New Zealand for running the competition.
• FOF feels a special responsibility for the Mt Arthur giant wētā, because it was first found on Mt Arthur by Geroge Vernon Hudson in the 1880's.
• It is critically threatened, only found above the treeline on a few mountains in Kahurangi, nowhere else in the world. Without conservation action it will become extinct.
• It's cute, definitely the cutest of Aotearoa's wētā! The nymphs, or young wētā, are particularly gorgeous, all decked out in black and gold.
• It needs help. It may be a giant wētā, but it's the smallest of them, weighing only 7g. It may look fearsome, but those characteristic spiny hindlegs have little defensive value against rodents. The Mt Arthur giant wētā is a gentle vegetarian.
• It's an ambassador for threatened alpine fauna. The Arthur Range is prominent in Te Tau Ihu, please help us shine a light on its' unique and wonderful biodiversity by voting for the Mt Arthur giant wētā.

We've nicknamed the Mt Arthur giant wētā, Deinacrida tibiospina, 'Tibio', after its species name. FOF volunteers led by Lesley and Martin have monitored the Tibio population on the Wharepapa ridge since 2016, using minimally-invasive, unbaited, tracking tunnels. Tibio are nocturnal and after much night-searching we coaxed a wētā to walk over an inked card and discovered that they leave distinctive prints. The proportion of cards tracked by wētā provides an index of abundance. We've seen the index fall after mouse irruptions. Tibio is more vulnerable to predation than most wētā because it lives on the ground in tussock grassland rather than in a defendable 'house' such as a tree cavity. Despite this, it has been a low priority for conservation action because rodent numbers and hence predation risk were thought to be low in the alpine zone.

FOF's monitoring has shown that this is no longer the case. In 2022, Tibio was classified as critically threatened. This means that without conservation action it will become extinct. Being an alpine specialist, Tibio cannot be given sanctuary on an offshore island or in a fenced enclosure. Continued survival of this, the cutest of the giants, is dependent on Aotearoa developing a mouse control tool that is effective in the massive landscapes of Kahurangi. There is currently no such tool. Like all the giant wētā, Tibio are wingless, so if they are lost from one maunga, re-colonisation will be very, very slow. This makes them particularly vulnerable to climate change.

Thanks to the mahi of FOF volunteers, the threats mice and climate change pose to this charismatic giant wētā are beginning to be understood. FOF's work demonstrates that local, dedicated groups of volunteers can make a difference for invertebrate conservation, even in the harsh alpine environment.

Listen to Jesse Mulligan and Nicola Toki discussing FOF's work with Tibio: Critter of the Week

How did Tibio fare?

Tibio didn't win, but more than 1700 people voted for it, so it came a comfortable second. As a result of our campaign, lots more people know about the Mt Arthur giant wētā and the threats it faces. Lots more people also know about Friends of Flora and we recruited some new volunteers as a result of the competition. So, to all of you who voted, and to the many who supported our campaign, thank you!