''Novoplectron'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus of cave

wētā Wētā (also spelled weta in English) is the common name for a group of about 100 insect species in the families Anostostomatidae and Rhaphidophoridae endemism, endemic to New Zealand. They are giant wingless insect, flightless cricket (insect ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Rhaphidophoridae The orthopteran family Rhaphidophoridae of the suborder Ensifera has a worldwide distribution. Common names for these insects include cave crickets, camel crickets, spider crickets (sometimes shortened to "criders" or "sprickets"), and sand trea ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the

Chatham Islands The Chatham Islands ( ; Moriori language, Moriori: , 'Misty Sun'; ) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island, administered as part of New Zealand, and consisting of about 10 islands within an approxima ...

. Cave wētā are nocturnal, wingless crickets that occupy humid habitats. ''Novoplectron'' wētā generally live under stones and in burrows of seabirds, such as

broad-billed prion The broad-billed prion (''Pachyptila vittata'') is a small pelagic seabird in the shearwater and petrel family, Procellariidae. It is the largest prion, with grey upperparts plumage, and white underparts. The sexes are alike. It ranges from the s ...

s, mutton birds and

storm petrel Storm petrel or stormy petrel may refer to one of two bird family (biology), families, both in the order Procellariiformes, once treated as the same family. The two families are: * Northern storm petrels (''Hydrobatidae'') are found in the No ...

Distribution & Taxonomy

The genus ''Novoplectron'' have only been recorded on the

(a group of offshore islands of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

). These wētā exist alongside '' Talitropsis crassicruris,'' another New Zealand endemic species, on Mangere, Pitt,

Rangatira In Māori culture, () are tribal chiefs, the leaders (often hereditary) of a (subtribe or clan). Ideally, were people of great practical wisdom who held authority () on behalf of the tribe and maintained boundaries between a tribe's land ( ...

and The Sisters islands. However, there is an absence of ''Novoplectron'' wētā on the Chatham main island. (See distribution map https://wetageta.massey.ac.nz/Text%20files/NOVOPLECTRON2014.html). Several wētā specimens from the genus '' Pleioplectron'' were collected from the Chatham Islands in 1958. After examining them, Richards discovered that the Chatham Island endemic species '' Pleioplectron serratum'' Hutton, 1904 displayed five major morphological differences that were not found in other species of the genus ''Pleioplectron''. It was determined that this species did not belong to any genus of

that had been previously recognised. This led to a new genus, ''Novoplectron'' Richards, 1958, being described, and the Chatham Island species was reassigned as ''Novoplectron serratum'' (Hutton, 1904). This Chatham Island Rhaphidophoridae is sister to the Bounty Island species '' Ischyroplectron isolatum.''

Morphology

Wētā of the genus ''Novoplectron'' have stocky bodies that can be up to 26 millimetres long and are thinly covered with short

seta In biology, setae (; seta ; ) are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Depending partly on their form and function, protostome setae may be called macrotrichia, chaetae, ...

e. They have very long, tapering antennae, which are about three times the length of their body. Some sections of their thin legs are armed with variable numbers of spines. The subgenital plate of females tends to be broad and short with a wide distal margin. While males tend to have a short triangular subgenital plate that has a long abrupt taper and curved at the apex.

Diet

Cave wētās are predominantly

scavenger Scavengers are animals that consume Corpse decomposition, dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While scavenging generally refers to carnivores feeding on carrion, it is also a he ...

s that feed on animal and plant material found within the caves they inhabit. Although, they will forage in the surrounding area if food becomes scarce inside the cave. The diet of ''Novoplectron'' mainly consists of dead seabirds. However, they have also been known to eat other types of animal and plant material.

Species

* '' Novoplectron serratum'' Hutton, 1904

References

Peripatus
Ensifera genera Cave wētā {{rhaphidophoridae-stub