Build a wētā motel

5 star weta motel
Image: Adrienne Grant | DOC

Wētā have been around for long enough to see the dinosaurs come and go and are New Zealand icons. Your kids will be freaked and fascinated by these amazing insects and you can encourage their curiosity by helping them to build a "wētā motel".

A wētā motel is essentially a nice dry hole that wētā can crawl into and be safe from predators like rats, mice, stoats, cats, birds and hedgehogs.

You can go for a 1 star bamboo version, or a more luxury 3-5 star wooden structure depending how fancy you decide to get.

A simple motel can be easily made by cutting a large length of bamboo into sections so the bamboo join forms the roof of the motel. Tie the piece of bamboo vertically onto a tree with a cable tie or piece of string and voila - a 1 star wētā motel.

A 1 star wētā motel
Image: Adrienne Grant | DOC

For luxury wētā motels…

Only essential features are given in this luxury wētā motel design³. The sizes of gallery spaces and entry holes are the most important factors.

Other tips:

• Entrance holes (16 mm dia) should be drilled after gap filling glue has fully set.
• Angle the entrance hole to avoid rainwater entering.
• Macrocarpa is the best timber to use, but tanalised radiata pine is okay.
• New motel units require some time for weathering before large numbers of wetā will reside inside.
• Place unit on shady side of tree trunk, away from direct sunlight.

You may have seen wētā motels in public places with a perspex window covering the cavity. This stops wētā falling out when the door is opened, but it is said to cause humidity and is limiting for the wētā. Try without or with a piece of transparent acetate or some other similar material. There is also less chance of wetā falling out if you only make single size galleries.

A luxury motel on the ground houses wētā and gecko
Image: Rosalind Cole | DOC

Luxury wētā motel diagram

Diagram of a luxury weta motel designed by George Gibbs ³

This luxury wētā motel is made from two lengths of 100 mm by 25 mm wood.

Three galleries are cut out of the first length of wood: one big gallery and two small galleries positioned under the large one.

• The large gallery is 80mm by 50 mm by 25 mm. It has an entrance hole of 16 mm diameter.
• The small galleries measure 80 mm by 20 mm by 25 mm. They sit side by side and each has an entrance hole of 16 mm.

The back board is made from the second length of wood, and attached behind the first with gap filling glue.

A third length of wood can be attached in front as a cover board. The cover board keeps galleries dark during daylight hours – it can be hinged and kept closed with a hook and hasp, or attached by two bolts with wingnuts.

The motel has a roof made of an angled piece of tin.

³ Designed by George Gibbs, Victoria, University of Wellington