Gonimbrasia belina
Gonimbrasia belina
Gonimbrasia belina is a butterfly (moth ) from the family of the peacock moth ( Saturniidae ). In English, the moth worm is as Mopani and the Caterpillar as Mopane to German Mopane caterpillar, referred to as the caterpillar from Mopanebaum Colophospermum mopane malnourished. Even among German-speaking Namibians is the name mopane caterpillar familiar. The caterpillar of the moth is an important source of protein for millions of people in southern Africa.
- 6.1 Notes and references
Dissemination
Gonimbrasia belina is common in Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and South African provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga.
Way of life
After mating, the female lays 50 to 200 eggs on leaves and twigs of Mopane trees. After about 10 days the larvae hatch from the eggs and eat the leaves in their immediate vicinity. The caterpillar sheds its skin four to five times during their growth, to then pupate in a cocoon in the soil. After six to seven months of the butterfly emerging in November-December to the beginning of the summer. The moth does not feed and only lives three to four days, in which he is paired and deposits eggs. A second generation caterpillars grow in good years approach to early April and then pupates.
The caterpillar feeds mainly on Mopane, but also eats other native trees of the region. This allows the moth a distribution area over a fairly large geographic region. As the caterpillar stage is compared with other caterpillars relatively short, also the damage to the leaves of the trees is relatively low.
Enemies
Often more than 40 % of the eggs a year are affected by one of the numerous parasites. The caterpillars are many birds and some small mammals as food. In addition, the caterpillar is threatened by a virus infection with a significant mortality rate.
Breeding and economic importance
The collection of caterpillars and their sale is an industry with several million Euros annual turnover in southern Africa and makes the bead into one of the economically important insects. Normally, the caterpillars are collected in the wild and not bred.
Collect
Traditionally, the caterpillar was collected as food. Due to the seasonal range in December and late March, early April, the edible caterpillars they were rather a supplement to the diet as a permanent food. Since the 1950s, agricultural methods are used to harvest. Here collect hundreds of helpers in groups the caterpillars by hand and pack them into bags, which can be transported for further processing. Many landowners with Mopane trees require the collectors of money, so that they can pick the caterpillars from their trees. While this will benefit both the people resident suffer because they are dependent on the caterpillars as food.
Preserve
The beads may be placed in brine and sold in cans. This is typical of rural supermarkets in Southern Africa. Another preservation method is to dry in the sun, so that the beads can be transported a long time. These are then re- soaked or salted.
Sustainability
As the caterpillar is an important local industry, it attracts many people who sell the caterpillar as food. This led to an overuse and lower populations in subsequent years. Farmers and communities have subsequently taken steps to adapt the crops so that the sequence populations remain stable.
Some farmers see the caterpillar as a threat to their crops and try with the plague and fight like insecticides. This fear is unfounded, as the caterpillar only a small damage inflicts on the foliage and the gnawed leaves lead to a new leaf shoots.
Resettlement
In some areas where Gonimbrasia belina was widespread, it has disappeared due to the overuse, there was no reasonable approach for commercial use. Since the moth lives only three to four days, he has to fly in little time in derelict land back. If that was successful, the caterpillars should not be treated collected again to allow a stable population, which is only possible in cooperation with the farmers. It was observed that the species from wildlife reserves, on the grounds no Mopaneraupen were collected constructions, the populations in over-exploited areas again.
Breeding
There are considerations to breed similar to the silkworm caterpillar of Gonimbrasia belina. Thus, the industry would be less dependent on climatic changes, drought and other factors that affect the harvest. This breeding is possible on a small scale and is the poorest of the poor access, the cost of breeding with the cost of collecting in the wild must be comparable.
Preparation
The caterpillar can be eaten fried dried as a snack, boiled or soaked. It is often served with sadza, the staple of many Africans. It is usually eaten with the skin, although this is relatively hard. The contents of the intestine is removed, however, as a rule. But the caterpillar is narrowed toward the end to rip the innards. Thereafter, the contents of the intestine is forced through the intestine as a tube of toothpaste.