There is a new delicacy on the menu of Damara Mopane Lodge: roasted Mopane worms. They are harvested on site, just like the vegetables, herbs and fruit. The worms, or more correctly caterpillars, are picked from Mopane trees around the lodge.

Our guests react differently to this new speciality - which in fact is a traditional, regional one. Some leave it at a curious glance into the bowl, others valiantly reach into it. Mopane worms occur only in southern Africa and are usually unknown to guests from other continents. In its distribution area in Africa the caterpillars are an important source of protein for millions of people. For many it is also a desperately needed source of income.

The Mopane worm is the caterpillar of the Mopane Emperor Moth, Gonimbrasia belina. Adult females lay 50 to 200 eggs on the leaves and around twigs of host plants. The larvae emerge some ten days later and then pass through several development stages. The gregarious larval stage lasts for about 6 weeks, during which the caterpillars feed on the Mopane leaves around them, increase their body mass 4000-fold and moult four to five times.

Since the gregarious stage of Mopane caterpillars is relatively brief compared to that of others, the damage they inflict on Mopane trees remains within limits. Furthermore, the eggs and caterpillars are susceptible to various parasites, and they also fall prey to many birds and several small mammal species. Sometimes up to 40 percent of the eggs are infested by parasites and do not survive the second stage of development.

Finally, the caterpillars pupate and burrow into the ground. The moths emerge after six to seven months in November and December. The non-feeding adult stage lasts for only 4 to 5 days with the sole purpose of mating and depositing eggs. The next generation of Mopane caterpillars will then appear in early April, as they currently do at the Damara Mopane Lodge.

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