Bush tucker, also called bush food, is any food native to Australia and historically eaten by Indigenous Australians, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but it can also describe any native flora, fauna, or funga used for culinary or medicinal purposes, regardless of the continent or culture. Animal native foods include kangaroo, emu, witchetty grubs and crocodile, and plant foods include fruits such as quandong, kutjera, spices such as lemon myrtle and vegetables such as warrigal greens and various native yams.
Bush tucker in Alice Springs
Billardiera scandens
Desert quandong
Bush tomatoes
The witchetty grub is a term used in Australia for the large, white, wood-eating larvae of several moths. In particular, it applies to the larvae of the cossid moth Endoxyla leucomochla, which feeds on the roots of the witchetty bush that is widespread throughout the Northern Territory and also typically found in parts of Western Australia and South Australia, although it is also found elsewhere throughout Australia.
Witchetty grubs (Endoxyla leucomochla) of the subfamily Zeuzerinae
Hunting for witchetty grubs near Yuendumu, Northern Territory