Long-tailed bats are found in the Waitomo district. They are not common but are not yet endangered like the short-tailed bat.

More information is needed about where long-tailed baits live in Waitomo, how common they are, when they hibernate and what time of day they come out to feed.

Bats navigate when flying in the dark by echolocation. They use their voice to emit sounds that bounce off solid objects and reflect back to the bats ears. This enables the bat to build up a near instantaneous picture of the environment along and around its flight path. The sounds are too high in pitch for humans to hear.

People locate bats by changing the bats voice into sounds we can hear using "bat detectors". The Department of Conservation has a bat monitoring programme

Things we do know about the long tailed bat.

Long-tailed bats are mammals, they are found in such places as the Ruakuri reserve in the Waitomo Caves area and forests throughout New Zealand.

The Long-tailed bat looks a bit like a mouse with wings. It weighs around 8 to 11 grams and is about 45 mm long with a 40 mm tail. It is a chestnut brown colour with small rounded ears. The bats tail is attached to its wing membrane and is used as a pouch to store the food they catch whilst in flight.

The Long-tailed bat's diet includes Moths, mosquitoes, beetles and midgets. It's an insectivore (that means it only eats insects). It catches its prey while in the air. It can fly at 60 Km per hour. It has a big home range (meaning, that the territory that it works in) it is 100 square kilometres.

Long-tailed bats like cool dark places such as caves and forests. They are nocturnal animals so they sleep during the day and hunt through the night.

The Long-tailed bat is unique to New Zealand and it's habitat is protected by the Department of Conservation (D.O.C).
There is a colony of bats at the Ruakuri Reserve, about three kilometres from our school. Waitomo Students assist in the bat monitoring programme.

by Jemma L. NZ

Wetas are insects. They have been on Earth since dinosaur times. Weta only live in New Zealand.

Life Cycle

The life cycle for a weta is not very long. Firstly the mother lays up to six eggs. They then take abut 1 month to hatch. After hatching the baby weta takes 18 months to become an adult .They find a partner and they mate. A female weta can lay 300 eggs in her life span.

Physical Features

Weta have large heads and long attenae their legs and bodies vary in size. They have strong jaws and sharp teeth. A hard skeleton covers the outside of their bodies. Most weta have ears on their front legs.

Diet

Weta eat both insects and plants. Their food supply varies on their size. The basic meal for wetas is plants, fruit, leaves and dead insects. Weta like both fresh food and rotting food.

Habitat

All weta have a different habitat. All weta are nocturnal too. Weta especially like dark, warm, damp nights. During the day, tree weta live in holes in trees. Ground weta live in old worm and grub holes in the earth. Tusked weta live in tree holes and ground holes. Giant weta live under stones and rotting bark. Cave weta live in caves or damp, dark bush. Weta only live is these homes at daytime. At night they come out to gather and eat food.

Sounds

Most weta are noisy at night. They make a sound like sandpaper rubbing against wood.To make this noise, they rub their spiny back legs against the sides of their bodies. Cave weta have no ears and make no sounds.

Family Tree

Weta belong to the same family as crickets, grasshoppers, and katydids. The five main types of weta are the giant weta, the cave weta, the tusked weta, the tree weta, and the ground weta. These weta all live around New Zealand. They are the main types of weta there are different names for the different types of weta.

Weta are becoming endangered or extinct.

by Jason C. NZ

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