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South American palm weevil larvae
Rhynchophorus palmarum
-1.82, -76.91
Field Notes
Description:
The adults are 2-4 inch black snout beetles. The larvae are white with dark reddish brown heads and will range up to nearly 3 inches long.
Habitat:
The adult beetles are found in the lowland areas in the Amazon rainforest of SE Ecuador where the Moriche palm (Mauritia flexuosa) grows, which is in swampy areas.
Notes:
After a tree is cut down, while cutting the heart out of the top of the tree to eat, the adult beetles will arrive and lay their eggs. 1 month later the upper end of the trunk can be split open and the grubs harvested. You can continue this in 1 month intervals working down the remaining trunk until the trunk is so hard the grubs can no longer bore into it. All forms are edible: adult beetles, pupa, larvae. The more rotten the tree, the better taste the grubs have. Hmm. I'm getting hungry :-)
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