My New Zealand Mini beast Report

We have been learning about mini beasts in class as part of science. 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 Olive.

 >Beautiful Bees<

 >What Is A Native Bee?

The New zealand native bee is an insect. There are 28 species of the native bee and 27 of them only occur in New Zealand because one species is rarely found in Australia. They are very fast and tiny so you can hardly see them until they subtly land on a puaka/flower. If one passes you they are not aggressive and rarely sting so don't be scared of them. The New Zealand native bees carry pollen in their 2 back legs. The bees don’t make honey they just pollinate puaka/flowers so no jars of honey are coming from them. Their bodies are much smaller than the average honey bee. Unlike bumble bees they are shiny dark black and people often mistake them for wasps. These are very extraordinary bees but we are trying to stop them from going extinct.

>Where Do They Live?

Most people think they live in hives like other bees but they actually live in a different habitat. Uwha/Female bees make deep anaroa/tunnels in the trees, logs or the ground. The males bees don't make anaroa/tunnels and scientists don't know why yet. The native bees make their anaroa/tunnels very close together. The most common place to find the native bee is a pohutukawa tree it may be surprising but they love pohutukawa trees. These interesting critters have a very different idea of a home compared to the other bees but it seems to work for them better than a hive.

>What Do They Eat?

All the New Zealand native bee species eat the same things and very few things actually. They feed on puaka/flowers but don't produce honey so they only eat nectar and pollen which is an everyday meal for them. They also fly on trees and suck the delicious  juice of the kiwi fruit. Vegetable crops are a yummy snack for the native bees. We know that New Zealand native bees long tongues have similar taste buds to us!

>How Do They Breed?

New zealand native bees breed in similar ways to the common honey bees but here some differences. Uwha/females lay 3-10 eggs before death. Uwha/female bee dig 20-30 centimetres into the ground and then she lays her eggs. The Uwha/female looks after the larvae and starts feeding it pollen and nectar. The scientists still have a lot to discover about the New zealand native bee’s breeding ways.

>Are They Social?

New Zealand native bees are very lonely critters. Unlike honey and bumble bees they live in small groups in anaroa/tunnels but they don't communicate or talk with each other at all. Although they live in groups they are very solitary. It’s mind-blowing how they can live in groups but not even communicate. 

>Are They Endangered?

The New Zealand native bee is very threatened and people are very worried that our native bees are going to go extinct. Many birds impact on the population of the native bees. The honey bee explosion has put a dent in the native bee because the honey bees numbers have gone 390,523 in 2011 to 817,483 in 2017. Most people think the varroa mite kills the New zealand native bee but it only threatens the bumble and honey bee and does even hurt the native bee. Scientists also think the bees are disappearing due to pesticides and habitat loss. We love our native bees and we hope they are fighting for their life.

Native Bees are very different from the well known bumble and Honey bee but it's amazing how we still have our native bee alive and let's look after them so they can survive!

By Porsha

& Olive :)

 

  

Beach Dogs Animation

Today we were learning to do a animation on google slides, it was my first time trying animation. We had to pick a background image and moving image for our animation. In our code we had to change false to true to make it loop. In normal slides it really slow so we had to make the code say 300 or 200 to make the animation look clean and fast. Hope you enjoy my animation :)

Weta Information Report: Report On The Weta

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

Click here for our success criteria

   Report On The Weta

                                                       By Porsha

                What Is A Weta?

 Weta are a native insect to New Zealand. Weta are an            invertebrate and they have a skeleton on the outside of their body which is called an exoskeleton. Weta are very interesting critters, people often think they are a cricket from other countries.There are over 70 species of weta but the main 5 are tree weta,tusked weta,ground weta and giant weta. Just like other insects they have a thorax,abdomen and don’t forget they're antenna (feelers). Uwha\female weta have an ovipositor on the back of their abdomen. Most people think they are used to harm other insects but the ovipositor is used to lay eggs that why uwha/females have them. Weta may look weird but they are very dynamic insects.

                Where Do Weta Live?

Where a weta lives depends on the weta species, So Tree weta live in any form of wood\trees, sometimes they can even live in your firewood pile. Ground and tusked weta live in burrows in the ground but if they choose to they can climb trees for food. Cave weta can be found in loads of places such as  hollow tree trunks, under houses, tunnels and sea coast caves. Giant weta are mostly found in island sanctuaries. If you see a weta in any of these places don't ruin,crush or destroy it, if you can make more habitats for weta to live in.

              What do Weta Eat?  

Like most insects weta need to feed on something. Most weta are carnivores or herbivores. Ground and Tusked weta are carnivores, They eat snails worms and vertebres. All weta feed at night, except for when people find weta they normally give them a fresh carrot to chomp on. Giant and tree weta are herbivores, they eat a lot of different types of food but these are the main ones Lichens,leaves,flowers,seed heads and fruit. Even though we sometimes eat weta, I’m sure we’re glad that they don't eat us.

             How Do Weta Breed?

To keep weta going they need to reproduce so don’t die out. Normally on a spring/summer night weta mate. In autumn the uwha/female weta lays 6-10 eggs at a time and the following spring the babies hatch and grow. Most weta breed at night. In a uwha/female weta lifetime she lays about 300 eggs. As weta grow they shed their skin. Weta have a similar breeding cycle to other insect but there are some differences.

           Are Weta Social?

Not all weta species have the same social life. Surprisingly,Tree weta are the most social weta out of them all. Tree weta live in a special group called galleries, galleries can contain heaps of young weta and uwha/female weta but only one male. The only other type of weta that don't live alone are Cave weta. Cave weta live in groups near the sea coast caves but are very lonely critters. Weta communicate and hei/talk to each other by rubbing their legs together to make a chirping sound. Unlike tree and cave weta other species of weta mainly live alone. 

           What Are The Threats To Weta?

Weta don't have many threats native to new zealand,Weta numbers decreasing because of all these introduced pests and animals.The native Tuatara,Weka and Kiwi eat wekas. The introduced animals like Ngeru/Cats,Hedgehogs and Rats are main predators. Ground weta back into their holes and keep a lookout for predators and be safe. Giant weta are less aggressive and way more bigger so the predators will go for them more often than the other species of weta. To keep out these threats make weta hotels so they have a safer place to live.

Weta’s are very interesting critters and all the different species live a little differently but we need help protect them because they are very important insects.

                Some Weta Photos: