Deinacrida mahoenui is a very large flightless insect: females weigh up to 19 grams (0.67 oz) and can be 75 millimetres (3.0 in) long, while males reach 12 g and 50 mm.

[1] These giant wētā were first discovered living in tiny (1–5 hectare) remnants of tawa forest at Mahoenui, a small community in New Zealand's King Country.

[1] Gorse is an invasive weed in New Zealand pasture, and not the wētā's natural habitat, but in combination with introduced livestock it had formed a refuge for the species.

Cattle had opened out the gorse canopy, and browsing by goats have cropped it into thick hedges, impenetrable to the introduced rats that are the main threat to D.

[1] Like most species of giant wētā, D. mahoenui are very vulnerable to introduced mammalian predators such as cats, stoats, possums, rats, and hedgehogs.