My New Zealand Mini Beast Report

We have been learning about mini beasts in class as part of our science topic. We have been creating information reports on a mini beast of our choice. The mini beast we chose had to live in New Zealand. Here is my writing. I worked with Sapphire.

The leaf veined slug

The Leaf Veined Slug   

The leaf veined slug is classified as a gastropod. (gastropods are invertebrates, they are cold blooded and are commonly known as slugs and snails). They are also known as Putoko ropiropi. The scientific name is athoracophoridae. They look like a leaf. They have a leaf pattern on their skin which gives them excellent camouflage. This slug is nocturnal. There are over 30 different species of the leaf veined slug. This slug can grow up to 60mm long. These slugs are poorly studied.

Where Do They Live

They live in wooded areas or in shrubs and inside rotten logs. They can also live in cavities bored by the pururi moth. They cluster around wet areas and small pools of water. They’re found throughout New Zealand/ Aotearoa.

What do they eat?

This slug is thought to feed of fungi and algae on top of leaves. The leaf veined slug doesn’t damage garden plants.

Reproduction

Some slugs are hermaphrodites, meaning they have

 tane (male) and wahine (female) reproduction organs. They need to mate in order to fertilise each other’s eggs. They are sometime found mating on top of leaves.

Social behaviour

Sometimes leaf veined slugs are found huddling together. They cluster around small pools and wet areas.

Threats

As far as scientists know koeko (birds) are their only threats. We need to make sure they have habitat to live it so they stay camouflaged so the don’t gain any more threats.

This was our information report about the leaf veined slug. I hope you learned something new about them. Please make sure to look after their habitat so they have food to eat and a place to stay.

By sapphire and Breanna

My Animation

Today we were learning to do an animation on google slides. We had to use free to use images and we had to change some of the code to make it work. We had to make the animation loop by changing the word false to true inside to code. In the code I also changed the moving part to make it go faster. Hope you enjoyed my animation.

Weta Report

This is a piece of writing that we did for our minibeast topic when we were learning about weta.  had to write an information report on this insect.

click here to see our success criteria

Weta Information Report

What is a weta?  

Weta are a native insect in Aotearoa New Zealand. Weta are invertebrates which means the have a skeleton on the outside of their body and have no spine. There are lots of different types of weta. The five main types they are Tree weta, ground weta, cave weta, tusked weta and the giant weta, but there are over 70 species. Moari people thought that it was ugly and called it punga (the spirit of ugliness)

Where do weta live?

Depending on the type of weta they are they live in different places. The tree weta live in logs and barrows in trees and you might find them in your wood pile. Ground weta live on the ground or in burrows in the ground. The tusked weta also lives on the ground. Cave weta live near sea coast caves in Hollow tree trunks. Giant weta live on Island Sanctuaries. People need to make sure weta have a habitat to live in.

 What do weta eat?

Depending on the type of weta they are usually herbivores, carnivores or omnivores. Weta usually eat flowers leaves lichen seed heads and fruit. Weta that are carnivorous eat small invertebrates like snails and worms. Weta feed at night so that they don't get caught by predators. Surprisingly weta like eating carrots. 

Weta Reproduction

Kōanga/Spring and Raumati/Summer are when the weta mate. In ngahuru/autumn female weta lay up to 300 eggs, at 6 to 10 at a time. Male tree weta live in a hole with a group of female weta during mating time. The male weta fight off other males to win over the female.

Are weta social?

Weta are not usually that social. Most weta live alone except for tree weta. Tree weta tend to live in big groups with others of their kind. Weta rub their legs together to make chirping noises to communicate with each other.

What are weta threats?

Weta now have many threats like stoats, birds, cats/ngerou, rats, bats and hedgehogs. Weta had only two threats (tuatara and birds) until people introduced all those other animals. Weta point their legs up in the air to make themselves look bigger and more intimidating. Their only protection is their hard exoskeleton.

                                                    

                                                   

This was my weta information report I hope you learnt something new about weta. They are an important insect in aotearoa even though they aren’t pollinators all insects are important. For weta to survive we need to protect their habitat.