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Man Eating Bugs: The Art & Science of Eating Insects All Galleries

Man Eating Bugs: Botswana

7 images Created 16 Jan 2013

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  • Mopane worm in its natural environment, eating the leaves of a mopane tree in Botswana. The mopane worm is actually the caterpillar of the anomalous emperor moth (Imbrasia belina), one of the larger moths in the world. "Mopane" refers to the mopane tree, which the caterpillar eats. Dried mopane worms have three times the protein content of beef and can be stored for many months. Image from the book project Man Eating Bugs: The Art and Science of Eating Insects.
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  • Mopane worms in their natural environment, eating the leaves of a mopane tree. The mopane worm is actually the caterpillar of the anomalous emperor moth (Imbrasia belina), one of the larger moths in the world. "Mopane" refers to the mopane tree, which the caterpillar eats. Dried mopane worms have three times the protein content of beef and can be stored for many months. Botswana. (Man Eating Bugs page 124,125)
    BOT_meb_2_cxxs.jpg
  • Julia Marumo, her two young sisters, and her cousin Gladys pick mopane worms from mopane trees in the countryside; entire families like hers move into mobile camps for the short mopane harvest which occurs twice every year in Botswana. The mopane worm is actually the caterpillar of the anomalous emperor moth (Imbrasia belina), one of the larger moths in the world. "Mopane" refers to the mopane tree, and its leaves which the caterpillar eats. Dried mopane worms have three times the protein content of beef and can be stored for many months. (pages 128,129)
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  • Mamebogo Marumo sits under the partial shade of a mopane tree as she squeezes the insides out of mopane worms, keeping the carcasses to be salted, cooked, and dried to be eaten. The mopane worm is actually the caterpillar of the anomalous emperor moth (Imbrasia belina), one of the larger moths in the world. Dried mopane worms have three times the protein content of beef and can be stored for many months. Botswana. (Man Eating Bugs page 131 Bottom)
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  • Mopane worms dry in the sun after being cleaned and boiled in salted water. The harvest of mopane worms (dried, they have three times the amount of protein as beef) is a major economic event in Botswana. Whole families move into the countryside and set up camp in order to collect the worms. While mopane worms are eaten in Botswana, they are a coveted form of protein in South Africa as well and have been largely over-harvested there. (page 126)
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  • A simmering pot of mopane worms in Botswana. The mopane worm is actually the caterpillar of the anomalous emperor moth (Imbrasia belina), one of the larger moths in the world. "Mopane" refers to the mopane treee, which the caterpillar eats. (Man Eating Bugs page 123 Inset)
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  • Alet van der Walt and her two-year-old son, Walt, Afrikaaners, carting cleaned, salted, cooked, and dried mopane worms back to South Africa where they will be sold to wholesalers; Walt helps himself to a personal snack of the commodity along the return trip. Botswana. Dried mopane worms have three times the protein content of beef and can be stored for many months. Eaten dry the worms are hard, crispy, and woody tasting. In your mouth, they taste like salty sawdust. (Man Eating Bugs page 131 Top)
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Peter Menzel Photography

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