weta

noun1

1. •
   (New-Zealand) Any of about 70 insect species in the families Anostostomatidae and Rhaphidophoridae, endemic to New Zealand, resembling katydids or crickets.

   • We came to know by heart […] her excitement on her first day at school at seeing a weta crawling on brother Willy's knee (‘Oooh, look on Willy's knee!’) […]. — 1982