Wētāpunga Photo: Auckland City Council
If you had to design the scariest insect you can imagine - it might come out looking something like a Wētāpunga.
The creatures grow to the size of a mouse or a sparrow, have beady black eyes with long antennae and legs covered in spikes.
But while dinosaurs have come and gone, the wētāpunga - or Giant Weta - has survived in Aotearoa for over 80 million years.
Author Jo van Dam and illustrator Laura Rayner have created a book aimed at sharing fascinating facts about wētāpunga with children aimed at getting them interested in the creatures.
And Don McFarlane, Auckland Zoo's team leader ectotherms tells Nine to Noon about the particular efforts to breed them.
