Wētā may be the best known native insects of Aotearoa-New Zealand, largely because when they are encountered it is usually with some surprise. Most of these interactions involve the fairly large, sturdy beasts with stout leg spines that are tree wētā. They are not shy of human domestic arrangements and in many areas are able to persist in urban environments. In the North Island in particular, the two species known as Auckland tree wētā and Wellington tree wētā are often found around houses. Notorious as inhabitants of gum boots and woodpiles, these insects find dark cool places to hide away during the day, venturing out only at night.
Both names are a little misleading as the ranges of these species extend much further than the cities. The Auckland tree wētā can be found from the Far North through Auckland to the Manawatū and Horowhenua, and the Wellington tree wētā from Horowhenua to Wellington and across Cook Strait through Nelson to the West Coast, though are largely absent from most cities and towns on the eastern side of the South Island. In Otago and Canterbury,
