Abstract
Two new species of ground wētā endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand are described. Anderus rakiura sp. nov. is known only from Rakiura Stewart Island and is phylogenetically sister to A. subantarcticus, which is endemic to Tini Heke—The Snares, a smaller and more southern group of islands. Anderus pipiwai sp. nov. is found in wet forest of southwest South Island where it is sympatric with at least two other congeneric species. These additions bring the total number of Anderus species to eight.
References
- Ander, K. (1938) Diagnosen neuer Laubheuschrecken. Opuscula Entomologica, 3, 50–56.
- Becker, R.A., Wilks, A.R., Brownrigg, R., Minka, T.P. & Deckmyn, A. (2022a) Maps: Draw Geographical Maps, R Package Version 3.4.1. Available from: https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=maps (accessed 8 November 2023)
- Becker, R.A., Wilks, A.R. & Brownrigg, R. (2022b) Mapdata: Extra Map Databases, R Package Version 2.3.1. Available from: https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=mapdata (accessed 8 November 2023)
- Chikwature, N., Morgan-Richards, M., Vereijssen, J. & Trewick, S.A. (2025) Comparison of growth, relative abundance, and diet of three sympatric Hemiandrus ground wētā (Orthoptera, Anostostomatidae) in a New Zealand Forest. Journal of Orthoptera Research, 34, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.3897/jor.34.123860
- Crosby, T.K., Dugdale, J.S. & Watt, J.C. (1998) Area codes for recording specimen localities in the New Zealand subregion. New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 25, 175–183. https://doi.org/10.1080/03014223.1998.9518148
- Hasegawa, M., Kishino, H. & Yano, T. (1985) Dating of the human-ape splitting by a molecular clock of mitochondrial DNA. Journal of Molecular Evolution, 22 (2), 160–174. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02101694
- Hoang, D.T., Chernomor, O., von Haeseler, A., Minh, B.Q. & Vinh, L.S. (2018) UFBoot2: Improving the ultrafast bootstrap approximation. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 35, 518–522. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msx281
- Kalyaanamoorthy, S., Minh, B.Q., Wong, T.K.F., von Haeseler, A. & Jermiin, L.S. (2017) ModelFinder: Fast model selection for accurate phylogenetic estimates. Nature Methods, 14, 587–589. https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.4285
- Kearse, M., Moir, R., Wilson, A., Stones-Havas, S., Cheung, M., Sturrock, S., Buxton, S., Cooper, A., Markowitz, S., Duran, C., et al. (2012) Geneious Basic: An integrated and extendable desktop software platform for the organization and analysis of sequence data. Bioinformatics, 28, 1647–1649. https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/bts199
- Jewell, T. (2007) Two new species of Hemiandrus (Orthoptera: Anostostomatidae) from Fiordland National Park, New Zealand. Zootaxa, 1542 (1), 49–57. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1542.1.4
- Johns, P.M. (2001) Distribution and conservation status of ground weta, Hemiandrus species (Orthoptera: Anostostomatidae). Science for conservation 180. Department of Conservation, Wellington, 25 pp. [ISBN 0-478-22134-7]
- Minh, B.Q., Schmidt, H.A., Chernomor, O., Schrempf, D., Woodhams, M.D., von Haeseler, A. & Lanfear, R. (2010) IQ-TREE 2: New models and efficient methods for phylogenetic inference in the genomic era. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 37, 1530–1534. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaa015
- Pratt, R.C., Morgan-Richards, M. & Trewick, S.A. (2008) Diversification of New Zealand weta (Orthoptera: Ensifera: Anostostomatidae) and their relationships in Australasia. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 363 (1508), 3427–3437. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2008.0112
- Salmon, J.T. (1950) A revision of the New Zealand wetas – Anostostomatinae (Orthoptera: Stenopelmatidae). Dominion Museum Records in Entomology, 1, 121–177.
- Saussure, H.D. (1859) Revue et Magasin de Zoologie. 2 (209). Bureau de la Revue et Magasin de Zoologie, Paris, 656 pp.
- Sherley, G.H. (1998) Threatened weta recovery Plan. Threatened Species Weta Recovery Plan No. 25. Department of Conservation, Wellington, 46 pp. [ISSN 11703806]
- Simon, C., Frati, F., Bechenhach, A., Crespi, B., Liue, H. & Flook, P.Z. (1995) Evolution, weighting, and phylogenetic utility of mitochondrial gene sequences and a compilation of conserved polymerase chain reaction primers. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 87, 651–701. https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/87.6.651
- Smith, B. (2014) Data deficient Hemiandrus: final report. Unpublished report, Department of Conservation, Wellington, 8 pp.
- Smith, D.H.V., Jamieson, I.G. & Peach, R.M.E. (2005) Importance of ground wētā (Hemiandrus spp.) in stoat (Mustela erminae) diet in small montane valleys and alpine grasslands. New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 29 (2), 207–214.
- Taylor-Smith, B.L., Morgan-Richards, M. & Trewick, S.A. (2013) New Zealand ground wētā (Anostostomatidae: Hemiandrus): descriptions of two species with notes on their biology. New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 40 (4), 314–329. https://doi.org/10.1080/03014223.2013.804422
- Taylor-Smith, B.L., Trewick, S.A. & Morgan-Richards, M. (2016) Three new ground wētā and a redescription of Hemiandrus maculifrons. New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 43, 363–383. https://doi.org/10.1080/03014223.2016.1205109
- Trewick, S.A. & Morgan-Richards, M. (2004) Phylogenetics of New Zealand’s tree, giant and tusked weta (Orthoptera: Anostostomatidae): evidence from mitochondrial DNA. Journal of Orthoptera Research, 13 (2), 185–196. https://doi.org/10.1665/1082-6467(2004)013[0185:PONZTG]2.0.CO;2
- Trewick, S.A. & Morgan‐Richards, M. (2005) After the deluge: mitochondrial DNA indicates Miocene radiation and Pliocene adaptation of tree and giant weta (Orthoptera: Anostostomatidae). Journal of Biogeography, 32 (2), 295–309.
- Trewick, S.A. (2021) A new species of large Hemiandrus ground wētā (Orthoptera: Anostostomatidae) from North Island, New Zealand. Zootaxa, 4942 (2), 207–218. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4942.2.4
- Trewick, S.A., Taylor-Smith, B.L. & Morgan-Richards, M. (2024) Wētā Aotearoa—Polyphyly of the New Zealand Anostostomatidae (Insecta: Orthoptera). Insects, 15, 787. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects15100787
- Trifinopoulos, J., Nguyen, L.-T., von Haeseler, A. & Minh, B.Q. (2016) W-IQ-TREE: A fast online phylogenetic tool for maximum likelihood analysis. Nucleic Acids Research, 44, W232–W235. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkw256
- Walker, F. (1869) Catalogue of the Specimens of Dermpatera Saltaroria in the Collection of the British Museum. Part 5. British Museum, London, 108 pp.
- Wyngaarden, F.v. (1995) The ecology of the Tekapo Ground Weta (Hemiandrus new sp.; Orthoptera: Anostostomatidae) and recommendations for the conservation of a threatened close relative. Unpublished MSc thesis, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, 105 pp.