Good eveningā
Iām swooping in at the eleventh hour this weekend, as Iāve been quite unwell - nothing major, just a seemingly long tail to recovery.
But it does bring home to joy of having a garden! While the vegetable patch isnāt impressed with the near-drought weather weāve been having, sitting out in the warm sunshine certainly helps speed recovery along.
The little town I live in has just recently established a community newsletter, called āPalmerston Localā. Iām contributing a colouring page (you can get a sample here) and Iām also sneaking in some environmentalism with a Critter of the Month column. I had started researching cicadas for this weekās Weekly Wildlife newsletter, but Iām pushing that to next week so I can really do it justice.
Instead, Iād like to share with you my latest Critter of the Month article, on the huhu.
The huhu (Prionoplus reticularis) is most well known for its edible larval stage, or what we call the huhu grub. It belongs to the longhorn beetle family (also called longicorns), and there are about 35,000 species of longhorns found all around the world. The huhu, however, is only found in Aotearoa.
After hatching from their eggs, huhu live as āgrubsā for about three years. They follow the woodgrain, using their powerful jaws to tunnel through dead and rotting wood. In their native forest habitat youāll find them in trees like matai, rimu, and kahikatea, but they have adapted well to the introduction of non-native trees and are now most commonly found in radiata pine.
Leading up to summer, huhu burrow out a chamber near the surface of the wood in preparation for pupation. In te reo MÄori, this short phase is called tÄtaka. It takes them about 25 days to pupate and then they emerge as beetles to mate, and lay eggs.
The adult beetles are called ātunga rereā, referring to their ability to fly. Living up to their namesake in the ālonghornā family, they have distinctively long antennae. Huhu beetles are oblong, about five centimetres long, and have hard outer wing cases intricately patterned with pale gold.
Theyāre nocturnal and can often be recognised by their noisy buzzing sound, sometimes ending up indoors as theyāre attracted to our bright lights. Huhu live for just two to three weeks in this adult beetle stage and donāt eat at all during this time.
Happy autumn,
Zenobiaš
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