Subject: ”Mopane Worm” from Namibia
Location: Namibia: Damaraland: Hobatere Lodge, 80 km N of Kamanjab
March 18, 2013 4:43 pm
Here’s a photo of a ”Mopane Worm” I mentioned in a comment I just posted about a similar caterpillar from Tanzania. This is Gonimbrasia belina (Saturniidae), on Mopane, its namesake foodplant (Colophospermum mopane; Fabaceae), at the Hobatere Lodge, ca. 80 km N of Kamanjab, Damaraland, Namibia, on 26 March 2010.
Signature: Julian Donahue
The larvae are collected, dried, and highly prized as food (tried one, but too “spiky” for me to really enjoy).
Hi Julian,
Thanks so much for submitting this beautiful photograph of such a stunning caterpillar. We see the resemblance to the Tanzanian Caterpillar we just posted. The adult moth is pictured on the African Moths website.