Those of you looking for a new house pet...

[briann]

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-12/look-giant-bug

This amazing/disturbing picture is of a giant weta, the world's biggest insect at a whopping 71 grams in weight. Wetas are cricket- or grasshopper-like insects native to the smaller islands of New Zealand, having been eradicated from the larger islands due to recently-introduced rats and other mammals. It's been officially named as the heaviest adult insect in the world (though some insects, like the Goliath beetle, attain higher weights in their larval stages).
The pictured giant weta is more specifically a wetapunga (you are encouraged to pronounce this "wetapunga!"), or a Little Barrier Island weta, named for the small island on which it is found. This particular specimen was found by adventurer Mark Moffett, who was somehow able to overcome the terror of seeing a bunny-sized bug.

[Rubystars]

That's really cool looking.

[muman613]

That's really cool looking.

Is 'cool' the correct adjective? Maybe it is cool to you, but I would not like to wake up with that bug staring at me...

[mord]

It is actually cute look as it eats

[muman613]

I think this bug would end up squashed if it wound up in my house...

[mord]

I think this bug would end up squashed if it wound up in my house...

when i was younger i used to have a zoo of bugs.I would put them in jars with holes on the tops look at them for a day or few hrs then let them go.

[muman613]

when i was younger i used to have a zoo of bugs.I would put them in jars with holes on the tops look at them for a day or few hrs then let them go.

Interesting... I was never into bugs too much. I remember once keeping a jar of earthworms as a kid.

I was more interested in electronics when I was in my 8-12 years.... I guess that is one of the reasons I ended up being a software engineer.

[mord]

Interesting... I was never into bugs too much. I remember once keeping a jar of earthworms as a kid.

I was more interested in electronics when I was in my 8-12 years.... I guess that is one of the reasons I ended up being a software engineer.

well as long as it worked out for the good

[angryChineseKahanist]

Yum.
Rostead green stuff.

[Dr. Dan]

aw ain't that a cutey....*gasp*

[briann]

Interesting... I was never into bugs too much. I remember once keeping a jar of earthworms as a kid.

I was more interested in electronics when I was in my 8-12 years.... I guess that is one of the reasons I ended up being a software engineer.

So you now live a life of debugging.   

[Rubystars]

Is 'cool' the correct adjective? Maybe it is cool to you, but I would not like to wake up with that bug staring at me...

I think it would look awesome in a tank.

[maelgwyn]

Not for me thanks!

[angryChineseKahanist]

Not for me thanks!

Why not? Roasted over an open fire?

[Rubystars]

Why not? Roasted over an open fire?

I wonder if it's kosher since it looks like it's related to grasshoppers. Or are only certain species of locusts/grasshoppers kosher?

[Aces High]

That's one monster bug!  I don't think a whole can of raid would stop this thing.

[Zelhar]

I wonder if it's kosher since it looks like it's related to grasshoppers. Or are only certain species of locusts/grasshoppers kosher?

While technically it may be a type of grasshopper I am sure it cannot be considered kosher, since only certain types of grasshoppers and locusts are kosher and most Jews (all Ashkenazim and some of the Sephardim) don't consider it kosher any longer as eating locust is a lost tradition.

[Rubystars]

While technically it may be a type of grasshopper I am sure it cannot be considered kosher, since only certain types of grasshoppers and locusts are kosher and most Jews (all Ashkenazim and some of the Sephardim) don't consider it kosher any longer as eating locust is a lost tradition.

Wait so even though it's right there in the Bible nobody is able to eat it because it hasn't been done in a long time? There are probably good reasons why it was included as an allowed food (nutritional or symbolic). Is there any teaching that in the future lost traditions like that might come back?

I think Wetas are more like a cricket than a grasshopper anyway though.

[Zelhar]

Wait so even though it's right there in the Bible nobody is able to eat it because it hasn't been done in a long time? There are probably good reasons why it was included as an allowed food (nutritional or symbolic). Is there any teaching that in the future lost traditions like that might come back?

I think Wetas are more like a cricket than a grasshopper anyway though.

One reason locust is kosher is in case they destroy large amounts of crops people must eat them or they starve.

I don't know if there is a teaching that lost traditions would be reinstated.

Yemenite Jews and Some north African Jews still ate these things until the 1950s and few even to this day. But most communities stopped eating grasshoppers hundreds of years ago.

There are other animals that are technically kosher but are not eaten,  like the Giraffe. But it is not kosher because there is no tradition nor knowledge as to how it should be slaughtered. But grass hoppers don't need to be slaughtered so that reason doesn't apply to their case.

Grasshopper is obviously a very abnormal item on the kosher menu and the risk of eating a non kosher insect must have been the reason why eventually most rabbis forbade eating it altogether.

[Rubystars]

One reason locust is kosher is in case they destroy large amounts of crops people must eat them or they starve.

I don't know if there is a teaching that lost traditions would be reinstated.

That makes a lot of sense. 

One of the things I think is interesting is how God blessed the USA by allowing the Rocky Mountain Locust to die off. American farmers still have to deal with grasshopper damage of course, but it's not the same as a locust swarm. I feel like if the USA keeps going down the path of evil it's possible that locusts may return here.

Yemenite Jews and Some north African Jews still ate these things until the 1950s and few even to this day. But most communities stopped eating grasshoppers hundreds of years ago.

If you were among them then could you eat it with them as they do have a tradition for it and are most likely eating the correct species?

There are other animals that are technically kosher but are not eaten,  like the Giraffe. But it is not kosher because there is no tradition nor knowledge as to how it should be slaughtered. But grass hoppers don't need to be slaughtered so that reason doesn't apply to their case.

Grasshopper is obviously a very abnormal item on the kosher menu and the risk of eating a non kosher insect must have been the reason why eventually most rabbis forbade eating it altogether.

I've wondered before about giraffes too. They're related to Okapi and both Okapi and Giraffe are related to antelopes.

Thanks for the information

[Zelhar]

If you were among them then could you eat it with them as they do have a tradition for it and are most likely eating the correct species?

I am pretty sure that an Ashkenazi Jew wouldn't eat it even if he was assured that it was completely kosher. Religious Jews tend to stick to their tradition. For example Ashkenazim don't eat beans on the days of Passover even though it is passover-kosher.

[Rubystars]

I am pretty sure that an Ashkenazi Jew wouldn't eat it even if he was assured that it was completely kosher. Religious Jews tend to stick to their tradition. For example Ashkenazim don't eat beans on the days of Passover even though it is passover-kosher.

That's interesting.