Published on 24 February 2025
New publication post!
On February 4th, I found a Wellington Tree Wētā stuck in my recycling bin. When I took it out to take some photos of it for iNaturalist, I noticed some odd sounds it was making - a thin, scratching rasp. I recorded it, and then looked online.
And I found nothing. Not a single recording on XenoCanto or on iNaturalist. No one had uploaded the sound before, as far as I could tell. It wasn’t on Wikimedia, either.
So, I uploaded it, and then wrote a short note about it for The Wētā, the bulletin from the Entomological Society of New Zealand. It was published today.
While this is editorially and not peer-reviewed, it is my first publication on an insect, which is pretty cool! I have intentionally not included a photo of the Wētā here, as I know some people who follow me here have arachnophobia, and this isn’t that far off.
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