Endoxyla leucomochla

Endoxyla leucomochla (Turner, 1915)
Witjuti, Witchedy, Wichetty, Witchety, witchjetti or Witchetty Grub
(previously known as Xyleutes leucomochla)
ZEUZERINAE, COSSIDAE, COSSOIDEA

Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

(Photo: courtesy of Paul & Linda Speirs)

The Caterpillars of this species live in tunnels in the ground. They feed on sap from the roots of :

Wichetty Bush ( Acacia kempeana, MIMOSACEAE ), and

Small Cooba ( Acacia ligulata, MIMOSACEAE ).

(Photo: courtesy of Margaret Milamba)

The animal is cylindrical, white, and has a brown head. It and the caterpillars of several other related species have been used as food and as medicine by Australian Aborigines, and are important subjects in Aboriginal Art. The caterpillars are usually eaten cooked, and a number of modern recipes for them have been devised.

Digging out larval tunnels around roots of Wijuti Bush

The caterpillar grows to a length of about 7 cms. It pupates inside its tunnel.

female
(Photo: courtesy of Donald Hobern, Aranda, Australian Capital Territory)

The adult female is a large finely mottled grey moth, each forewing with brown veins, two misaligned half-length pale streaks, variable black areas, and a rusty base. The hindwings are grey shading to rusty red at the bases and along the hind-margins. The females have thread-like antennae. The wingspan of the female is up to 18 cms.

male
(Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

The male moth forewings are are more strongly marked, with no rusty suffusion at the bases. The male hindwings fade to white at the bases and along the hind-margins. The males have feathery antennae. The male moths have a wingspan of about 10 cms.

female
(Photo: courtesy of Paul Kay, Jurien Bay, Western Australia)

For both sexes: the first three abdominal segments are much paler than the final five segments. The moths have degenerate mouthparts, and so cannot feed. They rely for energy totally on the nourishment taken in by the caterpillar earlier in its life.

male
(Photo: courtesy of Paul Kay, Jurien Bay, Western Australia)

The species has been found mainly inland in Australia, including:

Australian Capital Territory,

Victoria, and

South Australia.

Many people have wondered about rearing the caterpillars commercially. This could be possible if one could catch a gravid female, and then provide the caterpillars with an artificial food medium, perhaps like the bark/clover/carrot diet given by Rachel A. Allan et al. for rearing Wiseana copularis.

underside, male
(Photo: courtesy of Paul Kay, Jurien Bay, Western Australia)