Witchetty Grub

[Dave Jay]

G'day, I was editing some pictures and came across these from last month and thought I'd share. This is the larvae of a large moth (I'll get the species name later), it is around 4" (10cm) in a resting pose, the body of the moth is slightly shorter. I exposed this one cutting off an acacia branch about head height. They are a traditional bush food, said to taste nut like when roasted but are also eaten raw (alive!).

 

[Dave Jay]

 

[Dave Jay]

 

[Arachnoclown]

Yummy!!!

 

[Dustin Amack]

Interesting, do you know wha they look like when thy morph out of pupa stage? I would try anything once

 

[Dave Jay]

Interesting, do you know wha they look like when thy morph out of pupa stage? I would try anything once

Not my picture, but this is the species I think, Endoxyla leucomochla, it certainly looks like it.

The moths don't do much at all bar mate and sit around for days on end. You'll see one on a wall or more often screen doors and they'll be there for about a week not moving even though the door might be opened and closed dozens of times each day. They don't have working mouth parts so I guess once mated the males just wait to die and females wait for eggs to ripen enough to be laid. If you pick them up they don't fly, they just cling to you.

 

[Dustin Amack]

Not my picture, but this is the species I think, Endoxyla leucomochla, it certainly looks like it. View attachment 29557The moths don't do much at all bar mate and sit around for days on end. You'll see one on a wall or more often screen doors and they'll be there for about a week not moving even though the door might be opened and closed dozens of times each day. They don't have working mouth parts so I guess once mated the males just wait to die and females wait for eggs to ripen enough to be laid. If you pick them up they don't fly, they just cling to you.

Interesting! Thanks for the photo.

 

[Dave Jay]

Interesting! Thanks for the photo.

No worries, kids love them because they find a huge moth bigger than their hands. Usually the clinging freaks them out though, the legs are quite strong.

 

[Dustin Amack]

In my area we have what are called hummingbird moths that don't seem to be quit as big and are extremely fast flying. They are often confused for a hummingbird, hence the name.

 

[Dave Jay]

They look nice! The witchetty grub ones usually look pretty tatty. I've never actually seen one fly, I guess they might be like some other insects and have local mating flight nights then that's it.