witchety grub

English
Two witchety grubs, one of them feeding on wood.

Alternative forms

Etymology

From witchety +‎ grub, a partial calque of some Pama-Nyungan language (compare Arabana mako witjuti (“witchety grub”, from mako (“grub”) +‎ witjuti (“witchety bush”))).

Pronunciation
  • Audio (AU)(file)

Noun

witchety grub (plural witchety grubs)

  1. (Australia) The large, white, wood-eating larvae of several moths and beetles, especially the species Endoxyla leucomochla, traditionally eaten by Aboriginals in the Australian desert.
    • 2022, Meg Mooney, Northern Territory Literary Awards, page 33:
      I'll think of how the kids come alive walking around sandplains / reading tracks, looking for goannas, digging up witchetty grubs / collecting berries, branches of bush medicines.

References
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