Pachyrhamma is a genus of cave wēta (New Zealand cave cricket, tokoriro) in the family Rhaphidophoridae, endemic to New Zealand. All species are nocturnal and most use cave habitats.

Taxonomy

The genus was first described by Swiss geologist and entomologist Carl Brunner von Wattenwyl in 1888. Cook et al. (2010) found that Gymnoplectron and Turbottoplectron are synonymised with Pachyrhamma. They follow W.F. Kirby (1906) and Karny (1937) in treating Pachyrhamma as a neuter noun.

Ecology

Members of the genus are detritivorous scavengers that inhabit dark, damp refugia such as hollow logs, overhangs and caves during the day. They become more active at night and venture into the surrounding undergrowth to forage. They consume various organic matter such as plant seeds, fungi, animal droppings, and dead animal tissue. They will cannibalise the remains of other dead weta, and may also attack still-living cave weta while they are vulnerable during ecdysis (shedding their exoskeleton).

Species

When Pachyrhamma is treated as a neuter noun, species names have a neuter suffix, e.g. -ceras rather than -cera, and -ense rather than -ensis.