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Yesterday at Browns Bay market a stallholder gave me a bag of kumarahou leaves. According to my book on Maori herbal remedies, tea made from leaves of this native plant were drunk for turberculosis, asthma, & broncitis, as a blood purifier, & for their beneficial effects on the kidneys, as well as a remedy for colds & coughs, & as a tonic wash for the skin.
Kumarahou is also known as Gumdigger's Soap because the yellow flowers make a soapy lather when crushed in the hand.
Two weeks after the first mealworm pupae formed, a beetle has emerged. So far out of 50 larvae, 20 have pupated, & most of the others are lying still in the tub - getting ready to undergo their next stage of metamorphosis. After the beetles have mated, they will lay eggs in 7-10 days, which will hatch into larvae after 2 weeks - I will then have some interesting cooking tips for you!
The mealworms I bought a month ago at the pet shop have begun to pupate. They seem to have been happy on their diet of bran, apple, & guava.
Their cycle goes: beetles hatching to laying eggs 7-10 days; eggs hatch in 14 days as larvae; larvae pupate in 4-6 weeks; pupae emerge as beetles in 2-3 weeks.
Mealworms are edible at the larval stage, so expect some interesting posts on preparing & cooking these insects in the early New Year.
Last week I bought 50 mealworms from the petshop & am rearing them in an icecream tub. They eat bran & fruit - there is a worm on the apple slice below, the other dark lump is a piece of guava.
These "worms" are in fact beetle larvae. In a few weeks they will pupate, then turn into beetles, which will in turn lay eggs. Mealworms are eaten in many countries, & are very nutritious.
I will try them fried in butter & garlic, & roasted & salted with beer.....