Yes, this is about eating grubs. Deal with it.
Flexible, the grub squeezes out of a small hole.
Without the expertise of Charles E. Williams and the Michigan Entomological Society, Department of entomology, Michingan State University, this article would not be possible.
Over 100 species of insect feed on North American nut trees, including acorns. The most common acorn insects are weevils, genera Curculio and Conotrachelus, or long snout and short snout. The long snout weevil has a snout as long as its body or longer. The short snout weevil has a snout that is one-half the length of its body, or shorter. Both feed off corns and lay eggs that later become edible grubs.
Grubs are legless, buttery tasting, and chewy
The long snout weevil drills a hole in the acorn then lays her eggs. The short snout weevil finds a cracked acorn and lays her eggs through the crack. Both are quite successful. The legless grub-like larvae hatch from the eggs in a few days to a couple of weeks and there can be several larvae in each acorn. They go through a five stage growth development and eventually grow large enough to chew their way out of the acorn. They squirm out, drop to the ground, dig in, make a cocoon, and pupate for one to five years before emerging as adult insects.
The cavity in the acorn is then used by the Acorn Moth to lay her eggs. Those turn into a caterpillar, long, skinny, with six short legs on front, and usually pupate in the acorn. What you are looking for is what you see above left and right, a short, legless grub that is tan colored and fat in the middle. No Legs. Raw acorn grubs taste mild and surprisingly a bit chewy like a piece of fat. Cooked they are soft and buttery. But, you have to cook them over low heat if you fry them. They explode within a second if you put them in very hot fat.
Mama beetle looks for a hole to lay eggs or drills one
Grubs are also nutritious containing protein, fat, minerals and vitamins. In fact, in Australia 10 finger-large witchetty grubs meets all the daily calorie and nutrition requirements of an adult.
You can use grubs directly for fishing or put them in a bucket of sawdust or the like where they will make cocoons and live for one to five years, fresh bait when you need it. You can also store them in the frig. Whether you tell anyone looking for a snack in yoru frig that they are there is your call.
As for finding grubs in acorns the peak season is in September follow heavy rains in August. That can vary depending on where you are and also if other nuts are involved. If you want to read more about weevils here’s an informative article by the insect experts at the University of Kentuck.
