This nocturnal species hides in burrows during the day, and can be an important food for kiwi.

Unusually for an insect, the female shows maternal care towards her eggs and nymphs.

[2] This species is therefore synonymous with both Libanasa pallitarsis Walker and Hemiandrus furcifer Ander.

[8] During the night they are quite active on the ground, but are also found in vegetation such as beech trees,[9] kanuka bushes[10] and on leaves of plants such as kawakawa.

[12] The diet of this species is unknown; other Hemiandrus species vary from carnivorous,[13] to omnivorous (fruit, invertebrates, and seeds),[14] to herbivorous (apricots and grasses),[15] During the summer in the Ōrongorongo forest (southern North Island) this species of ground wētā is commonly caught climbing tree trunks, with large numbers climbing into hard beech trees (Fuscospora truncata) .

[16] At the same time of year moth caterpillars feeding on hard beech are abundant[17] which might explain this behaviour.

[5] H. pallitarsus has no tympanum, and instead can detect sound through its cuticle, which is adaptive for their underground lifestyle.

[5] Eggs are laid in July,[15] and hatching occurs in September and October[5] (these are winter and spring months in New Zealand).