Marthina Mutanga
People from different walks of life have flocked to the Erongo Region to harvest mopane worms which they then sell at various open markets in the country.
A Senior Counsellor of the Zerua Traditional Authority, Hivirikee Uaseupuani said since the region has received good rain people from the North and the Khomas region started flocking to their area to collect worms from the mopane trees.
Uaseupuani noted that the people have come to different villages to harvest the worms.
He said that there is an abundance of worms, so named for their preferred diet of Mopani leaves. In a year of bounty, the worms hang big and fat on the end of the butterfly-shaped leaves, often leaving the trees bare after a few weeks of feasting.
Before the ground hardens for winter, they burrow into the earth beneath the trees and pupate for six or seven months until the summer, when they emerge transformed into large emperor moths.
After the worms are harvested people dry them in the sun and sell them at the various open markets around Namibia.
