The natives are very fond of the pupæ of ants. They gather them and place them in a tarnuk; they are then mixed with the dry bark of the "stringy-bark" tree, which they tear off the tree and rub in their hands until it is powdery. When this is thoroughly mixed with the so-called ants' eggs, they take up some in their hands and blow away the loose stuff, and finally get clean eggs to eat. They say they are very good, the taste being something like that of a mixture of butter and sugar.
Mr. Wilhelmi mentions the trough of bark used by the blacks of South Australia for holding the pupæ of the ants. The trough is called Yuta; it is about four feet in length and eight inches in breadth. The natives open the ant-hills, and the pupæ are placed in this trough, which is shaken and so manipulated as to retain the pupæ and to throw off the dirt and refuse. The season of the ants is in September and October, and during these months the yuta is always seen in the hands of the natives.
A kangaroo skin, or indeed anything at hand that will hold the contents of the ants' nest, is used for shaking and clearing the pupæ of dust, &c., when the tarnuk or the yuta is not to be had.
The pupæ of the common ant (Formica consobrina) are of the size of grains of rice; those of the black and red bull-dog ants (Myrmicia pyriformis and M. sanguinea) are three-quarters of an inch in length.
Several kinds of grubs are eaten, namely, those taken from the honeysuckle (Tharathun krang), those taken from the wattle (Martthem krang), and those from the white-gum (Ballook krang).
All the grubs, says Mr. Bulmer, are named from the trees from which they are taken. Some natives prefer to eat the grubs raw; others cook them by placing them for a short time in the hot ashes of a fire.
The common grubs in Victoria are the Zeuzera citurata and Endoxyla eucalypti (found in the wattle), and Endoxyla n. sp. (found in the gum-trees).
The moths—the Bugong moths—(Agrotus suffusa) are greedily devoured by the natives; and in former times, when they were in season, they assembled in great numbers to eat them, and they grew fat on this food.[1]
- ↑ The Bugong moths collect on the surfaces of granite rocks on the Bugong Mountains of New South Wales, and in such manner as to admit of their being caught in great numbers. Mr. G. Bennett says:—"To procure them with greater facility, the natives make smothered fires underneath those rocks about which they are collected, and suffocate them with smoke, at the same time sweeping them off frequently in bushelfuls at a time. After they have collected a large quantity, they proceed to prepare them, which is done in the following manner. A circular space is cleared upon the ground, of a size proportioned to the number of insects to be prepared; on it a fire is lighted, and kept burning until the ground is considered to be sufficiently heated, when, the fire being removed, and the ashes cleared away, the moths are placed upon the heated ground, and stirred about until the down and wings are removed from them; they are then placed on pieces of bark, and winnowed to separate the dust and wings mixed with the bodies; they are then eaten or placed in a wooden vessel called Walbum or Calibum, and pounded by a piece of wood into masses or cakes resembling lumps of fat, and may be compared in color and consistence to dough made from smutty wheat mixed with fat. The bodies of the moths are large, and filled with a yellowish oil, resembling in taste a sweet nut. These masses (with which the netbuls or talabats of the native tribes are loaded during the season of feasting upon the Bugong) will not keep more than a week, and seldom even for that time; but by smoking they are able to preserve them for a much longer period. The first time this diet is used by the native tribes, violent vomiting and other debilitating effects are
