18 Mar 2021

An enormous occurrence of mophane worms in the North East District has been forecast to suffer from starvation due to inadequate food in the forest.

Mophane worms feed on the mophane tree, an indigenous species found in the North East, Eastern and Central parts of the country. However with the vast sprouting of mophane worms this season, experts reported that a lot of the worms would not survive their complete cycle as a result of limited shrubs.

A butterfly moth outbreak was observed in January and February, which was alarming being rampant in residential, shopping malls and all public places including their natural habitat; forest.

The moth laid eggs on any surface where they found an abode as the miniscule white eggs could be detected in every place as one transverses across the North East District.

The outbreak of the butterfly moth was only a peep through a window to a mophane worm season that would have the African delicacy fighting for survival in the forest grappling with shortage of food to bite on.

In an interview, the Department of Forestry and Range Management chief technical assistant officer, Ms Bontle Tannor gave an insight of what would become of the April phane season in the North East District.

Ms Tannor stated that this impending season, mophane worms had budded massively compared to last season in December, a situation she attributed to the fact that last year during the April phane season, people were in lockdown, hence it was not harvested, resulting in all of it burrowing underground.

She stated that mophane worm metamorphosis takes a year to complete,

“The phane that is harvested in December doesn’t in any way emanate from the same cycle as the April one, which is why last December phane wasn’t as vast as we see now in the forest.”

She further stated that the moth laid eggs everywhere, which she said was a clear sign that the small caterpillars would be hatched in every place as well as in places not their natural habitat.

The officer explained that mophane worm outbreak was a calamity in that the species would compete for food and hence ravage the whole forage to a point where the worms would suffer from starvation.

Ms Tannor stated that currently, the shrubs in some parts of the district had been completely ravaged by the worms, however the worms had not reached their maturity stage, rendering a bleak future for one of the most loved delicacies.

She expounded that North East District was a dense area defined by integrated farming, where forests were limited due to it being small and shared by people and livestock.

This, she said, in a way rendered the district as not suitable grounds for mophane worms outbreak due to the narrowness of the shrubs.

Ms Tannor further highlighted that some of the malnourished worms had resorted to feeding on other plants and grass while others perished along the way to seek refuge elsewhere.

She said the safest haven for mophane worms was on top of the trees, adding that when they descend and crawl on the ground, animals and humans trample upon and crush them.

However, all is not lost for the African delicacy as some drizzles of rain could give the worms a new lease of life as they flourish in humid conditions.

Ms Tannor said one of the contributing factors to the demise of mophane worms was the extreme hot weather conditions, more especially during the initial stages of the worm.

She highlighted that precipitation was much needed now to nourish the leaves and also give the worms a boost.

The officer stated that the district office was currently issuing out Phane harvesting permits across all villages in the North East District.

However, she said camping in the forest would not be allowed this year due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Ends