Emperor Moth (Gonimbrasia belina)

Emperor moths belong to the Saturniidae family and are probably the giants of the moth world with wingspans up to 7 inches. They are the most spectacular of all and come in brilliant colors.
This one has a wingspan of 4 inches and I found it sitting amongst the leaves of a bush early in the morning before it was warm enough for them to start flying around.

Most have elaborate eye-spots on the wings and large antennae. They are attracted to lights at night but some of the species are found during the day time.

The pupa of the species are normally found in the ground where they develop.

Mopane moths belong to this same family and are eaten as a delicacy by many people.

I sometimes think that moths are as beautiful as butterflies. There are definitely some stunning species around.

Silk weaving - Part 1

In the small town of Graskop, there is a place where they weave raw silk into all kinds of beautiful items and during Gaelyn's visit here, I asked the people there if I might take pictures of the process to share with you and they agreed. They can be contacted at:
http://www.africasilks.com/

For more information on the silk trade and silkworms, go to:
You will never guess what happened to me today and Silkworm update

Now we have a 'chicken and the eggs' story which came first? Okay, lets start with the eggs which are layed by the moth....

Out of the thousands of eggs laid, the worms breed out. They feed mostly on Mulberry or lettuce leaves.

In a few months, they begin to spin silk cocoons around themselves and there are stunning pictures of it in "Silworm update". There they remain through the winter.......
...... and the moths hatch from that.

Depending on what they are fed, the silk is either yellow or white. The silk shop has their own farm where they breed the worms and gather cocoons by the thousands.

Now here the story splits and I will give you the explination as given to me by Africa Silks...

Fine silk: "With this method a single thread is reeled off the cocoon, which was boiled with the pupae inside, because once the moth exits, the thread will be broken. Using a good quality cocoon this continuous thread can be up to 1,3 km (about half a mile) long. This is the method used for producing the fine silk associated with eastern countries." The method used is all done with expensive machines not available in smaller countried like SA.

Raw/rough silk: "In this method the cocoons are boiled after the moths exit to remove the gum-like substance called Serosin. After drying them off, the silk threads are loose and ready to be spun into threads or stretched into squares for use." This process and its weaveing is done manually or with manual looms. In the picture below, the lady is busy washing the cocoons.

Once washed, they are stretched apart as far as they will go an attached to this aquare wooden frame.

Once enough have been attached to the frame, it is removed and look like this. As you can see, it is kind of lumpy and not the smooth silk one thinks it should be.

Mopani worms are also used and woven by Africa SIlks, the processing of the silk being more labor intensive than the silkworm. The wild Mopani worm does not feed in captivity, therefore the cocoons are harvested from nature. Their cocoons are very hard and nut-like and involve a long process to be washed, brushed and spun into threads, ready for weaving.

Below, a lady takes the sqares of rough silk and spins them into thread.

Pygmy Emperor Moth (Rohaniella pygmaea) Saturniidae

Is this not the most beautiful moth you have ever seen???? It is large, 4-5 inches in width. They are nocturnal and only live for 3-5 days. The males have this comb-like antennae.

The biggest, fattest caterpillar I have ever seen!!

Mopane larvae (Imbrasia belina) Family Saturniidae
This caterpillar is about 5 inches long and as thick as my thumb. I have brought one home to see what it eventually becomes but I get the feeling it is only going to do this in the spring. I found it in a park about 3-4 miles away.
It is one of the species of Mopane worms we have here.

They are a staple part of the diet in Southern Africa, they are harvested twice a year and sold in the local markets. The mopane worm is the brightly colored caterpillar of the Emperor Moth, which is one of the world’s largest moths, and the caterpillar lives on the leaves of the mopane tree – hence, it gets its name. The worms are hand picked or shaken off the trees. The local collector’s squeeze the Caterpillars to remove their bright green ‘guts’ and then they are cooked in a cauldron of salty water until the water has evaporated, they are then dried in the Hot African Sun. Once dried, they can be stored for many months. Their protein content is three times that of beef, weight for weight, and they are traditionally cooked in a stew containing tomatoes and onions. The biggest worms have the best flavor as they contain more fat ; the texture is similar to tofu or soya meat and they taste a little like dried fish, but they seem to soak up the flavor of whatever they are cooked with. Mopane’s can also be eaten as they are as a snack like, ‘jerky’.