Talk:Huhu beetle

Eating

2nd Author- I live in NZ and have personally tried a huhu grub. Don't try one!! They don't taste like buttery chicken, or peanuts, or butter (the rumours I heard before trying one), they taste very plain and crunchy. Please, for your sake, don't try one!

Seconded. It was gross. I'm still glad I ate it though. 203.118.158.142 10:04, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

Size

If a cite could be found, those of us on other continents could get more out of this article if it included the typical adult's size. If the larva is 70 mm (that's 2 3/4 inches, folks!) how big do the actual beetles get??? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.170.41.254 (talk) 12:50, 15 September 2009 (UTC)

The size of the adult beetle varies; males are somewhat smaller than females, and sometimes you can find really big ones, sometimes quite small. I've seen large ones up to about 50mm length, some smaller males are barely 30mm. That's not including the antennae or legs. Edaemus (talk) 04:42, 7 February 2010 (UTC)

Peer review

Huhu beetle

I've listed this article for peer review in order to prepare it for Featured Article candidacy. The article is about the Huhu beetle (Prionoplus reticularis), a species of longhorn beetle endemic to New Zealand. It is one of the countries most notable and distinctive beetles, as well as the largest. Notably, it is also one of the most well researched beetle species in NZ.

Thanks, AxonsArachnida (talk) 04:40, 13 April 2026 (UTC)

RoySmith

• Maybe it's unavoidable, but the first paragraph of Taxonomy uses the word "specimen" five times. Perhaps some rephrasing could reduce the repetition?
  • I got it down to three uses instead of five (about evenly spread out).
• I don't know where the MOS talks about this, but in places like was collected by Andrew Sinclair or alongside William Colenso and Joseph Dalton Hooker most FAC reviewers want to see the person briefly introduced, i.e. "botanist AndrewSinclair" or "botanists William Colenso and Joseph Dalton". Some people want you to say "The botanist ...", but that's a matter of personal style per MOS:PSEUDOTITLE.
  • Added.
• Wikilink type specimen
  • I must have been impatient to miss that. Linked.
• in his landmark “Manual of the New Zealand Coleoptera” Use italics per MOS:ITALICTITLE
  • Done.
• it ceases to bore in wood and casts its skin I think "sheds instead of "casts"?
  • I think I meant to say "casts its skin aside", but just "sheds" is even better.
• This still edible stage is known in Māori as tataka. This is the first we've heard of it being edible, so "still edible" is a bit odd.
• Per WP:MTAU, there's a bunch of technical words that should be linked and/or explained: type specimin, larva, pupa, phylogeny, tribe, basal (link to Basal (phylogenetics)), pronotum, satae, podocarp, kauri, elytra.
  • Added.
• In some places you provide unit conversions ("35–40 mm (1.4–1.6 in) in length") but in other places you don't ("The egg is around 3 mm in length and 1.2 mm wide"). Be consistant.
  • I went and made it consistent. I prefer to not have the unit conversions since this is an NZ species. Unfortunately the page (and others) tends to get editors who pop up and add conversions (usually only for a couple of random measurements). Is there any way to ward them off from doing this that I don't know of?
    • Not really. You could try embedding HTML comments saying "Please don't add convert templates, see talk page" but in reality that's unlikely to have any effect. But, since we're here, you've got "1,500 m in altitude" but elsewhere "up to altitudes of 1400 m". I assume those should both be the same number, and be consistent about using the comma or not per MOS:DIGITS.
• However, another study has reported it may 250 –300 eggs. If you're going to use this phrasing, it needs to be in contrast to the previous sentence, i.e. "Most studies report that the beetle deposits ... However, in another study". Or you could leave the first sentence as is, and pick up with "One study has reported ..."
  • I went with the latter.
• Around 94–98% of eggs collected in the wild will hatch. if you're going to give the range, leave out the "Around".
  • Done.
• using its mandibles to pierce the chorion of the egg and then enlarging the opening keep the two verbs the same tense: "to pierce ... and then enlarge".
  • Added.
• before constructing the pupal chamber. The pupal chamber is constructed avoid the repetition: "before constructing the pupal chamber by enlarging the diameter ..."
  • Added.
• 2 am before ceasing between 4-5 am. MOS:TIME says to use a non-breaking space.
  • Added.

That's it for me. Overall, this looks pretty good.

Thanks @RoySmith. I've gone through all your comments. I had a question about the conversions stuff, but otherwise I have nothing else to ask. AxonsArachnida (talk) 03:47, 15 April 2026 (UTC)

Aterbiou

Some source comments:

• Edwards (1959) says the beetle "is reported to attack fourteen species of gymnosperms and two species of angiosperms". The article, however, says "twelve gymnosperms". What causes the discrepancy?
  • I fixed the error. You're right in that its meant to be fourteen.
• The article says "the larva potentially burrowing up to 5 cm in depth after five months". This cites Romo et al (2018). But Romo et al study multiple species, and for P. reticularis they say that the mean depth was 9.4 mm and the maximum depth was 21.8 mm. The article seems to give the numbers for A. ferus, which is the other species in the study.
  • Yep that's a mix up. Fixed it.

Some minor text comments:

• "exclusively parasitises the beetles eggs": Maybe "beetle eggs" or "beetle's eggs"?
  • Fixed.
• "The male antennae are longer than female's and also possesses": Maybe "possess"?
  • Fixed.
• "and the former having them at the beginning of the segment": "latter"? (you already have a "former" earlier in the sentence)
  • Fixed.
• "The adults is incapable": "are"?
  • Fixed.
• "principle food source": "principal"?
  • Fixed.
• "preyed upon by of": "preyed upon by"?
  • Fixed.
• "a parasitic fungi that infects insects": Maybe "fungus"?
  • Fixed.

Aterbiou (talk) 14:08, 15 April 2026 (UTC)

Thanks @Aterbiou. I've gone through all your comments. AxonsArachnida (talk) 02:05, 16 April 2026 (UTC)

Femke

• Split the lead into paragraphs (2? maybe 3?) to ease reading
  • Split into two
• In the behaviour section, you've got a few slightly awkward sentences using the WP:PLUSING construction. This sentence particularly can use a copyedit: "Between beetles, this can escalate to combat with preliminary grappling occurring with fore legs which usually results in an individual being thrown onto its back.". Can you use a more active tense too? Another example of PLUSING is in "If successful, both beetles become somewhat inactive, with both sexes antennae twitching and with the male using its mandibles to stimulate the female, a process which may last up to fifteen minutes"
  • Done
• aren't -> contractions are informal, say are not (there's more examples throughout)
  • Done
• The Māori name huhu is ultimately Austronesian in origin from root form bukbuk, where cognates in related languages (like Tagalog bukbok) refer to weevils known to infest wood and rice across tropical Southeast Asia -> quite a complicated sentence. Split?
  • Done.
• With alts, think about the information that the blind reader requires. The background colour of a photo is unimportant (pupa alt), its shape and colour might be worth mentioning.
  • Done.
• The gut microbiome diversity is also dependent on the food source the larvae has access to -> Check whether all your also's are necessary. Here, I don't see what the also refers back to.
  • Done.

Overall, well done! —Femke 🐦 (talk) 17:15, 21 April 2026 (UTC)