Principes,3T(l), I993, pp. 42-47 Hypothesizing About Palm Weevil and Palm Rhinoceros Beetle Larvae as Traditional Cuisine, Tropical Waste Recycling, and Pest and Disease Control on Coconut and Other Palms-Can They Be Integrated? GENI R. DnFouenr Dept. of Entomology, 237 Russell Laboratories, I630 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706 In their book on Cameroon cuisine, Gri- appearance, these worms are a delicious maldi and Bikia (1985) describe their rec- treat to many people, and they are regu- ipe for "coconut larvae" as a "favorite larly sold at Paramaribo." Stedman later dish offered only to good friends" (see rec- related (p. ll5) that: "We here found ipe, page 44). The flavor of "palmworms" concealed near the trunk of an old tree a (fat, Iegless larvae of the weevil genus case-bottle filled with excellent butter, Rhynchophorzs) has been appreciated which the rangers told me they made by throughout the tropical world for centu- melting and clarifying the fat of the palm- ries. There are a number of species, but tree worms: this fully answers all the pur- the major ones from the standpoint of wide poses of European butter, and I found it distribution and use as food are Rhyn- in fact even more delicious to my taste." chophorus palmarum in the W'estern Indigenous populations throughout the Hemisphere, R. phoenicis in Africa, and tropics have prized palmworms no less than R. ferrugineus in Asia. have Europeans, and in the case of R. Newcomers to the Caribbean region were palmarurn, Chagnon (1968:30-32) in particularly effusive about palmworms. Venezuela,/Brazil, Clastres (L97 2:16O-61) Bancroft (I769:239), in his "Natural His- in Paraguay, and Beckerman (1977) and tory of Guiana," wrote that the larvae are Dufour (1987) in Colombia have reported "esteemed a delicate morsel, not only by primitive cultivation systems for the lar- the aboriginal Natives, but by many of the vae. Chagnon reports: "The Yanomamo White Inhabitants, particularly the French, come very close to practising 'animal who roast them before the fire, and mix domestication' in their techniques of them with crumbs of bread, salt, and pep- exploiting this food. They deliberately cut per." Smeathman (I781:167-69), who the palm tree down in order to provide was working in West Africa at the time fodder for the insect. When they cut the and had taken a particular fancy to the tree, they also eat the heart of the palm, taste of the termite, Macrotermes belli- a very delicious, crunchy vegetable that coszs, said of the termites, "they are some- slightly resembles the taste of celery hearts. thing sweeter, but not so fat and cloying One palm we cut yielded an edible heart as the fpalmworm] which is served up at of about 50 pounds. After the pith has all the luxurious tables of West Indian been allowed to decay for several months, epicures, particularly of the French, as the it contains numerous large, fat, white grubs. greatest dainty of the Western world." The pith is dug out of the tree with sticks, And Stedman (1796:22-23) in Suriname, broken open by hand, and the grubs remarked that, "However disgusting to extracted. A fair-sized palm tree will r 9931 DEFOLIART: PALM BEETLE LARVAE yield three or four pounds of grubs, some reported a live weight of 3-16 grams for of them as large as a mouse. The grubs the grubs and a maximum acquisition rate are wrapped in small packages of leaves of 2,000 g/hotr. and placed in the hot coals to roast." Cha- With this gustatory background, let us gnon was told by a missionary that the look at another dimension of palm weevils, grubs taste very much like bacon. restricting ourselves temporarily to the The Guayaki of Paraguay, according to 'Western Hemisphere. Rhynchophorus Clastres, consider the palm larvae as "more palmarum is one of the most serious pests than a food gathered by chance in the of coconut and oil palms in Latin America forest; rather, it is the product of a sort and the Caribbean, mining the trunks of of cultivation. The Indians knock down the the trees and transmitting the nematode, palm tree, leaving a stump about 3 feet Rhadinaphelenchus cocophilus, which is high. They then generally cut the fallen the causal agent of red-ring disease (RRD) trunk into sections l0 or 12 feet long, (Morin et al. I986, and others). The weevil preparing the wood for the insects. infests many other species of palms, both Each man is the owner of his larvae bed. wild and cultivated, as well as sugarcane This private property is almost always and several root and fruit crops (Hagley respected and no one touches the larvae 1965, and others). Hill (1983) describes of another. Later, the harvest is divided the damage from the weevils as follows: and eaten collectively. Thus the Guayaki "The larvae burrow in the crown of the distribute a relatively abundant supply of palm, feeding on the young tissues, and food. It is of great interest to see that sometimes destroy the growing point, when the Guayaki, despite their being nomads, the palm will die. The leaves turn chlorotic establish a fixed source of food to be gath- and die, and the trunk becomes tunnelled ered much later. In doing so, they are and weakened, and may break in a storm." obliged to return to the cultivation area Schuiling and van Dinther (I98I) pro- after many months of travelling. This vide a good entry to the extensive litera- cultivation of guchu therefore exerts a pro- ture on RRD. The coconut palm may die found influence upon the wandering habits within 3-4 months after the appearance of the Guayaki in that it gives an order to of external symptoms which include yel- their travels." lowing of leaves and premature nutfall. In Colombia, Beckerman (I977) Internally the stem tissue is discolored and reported that the Bari Indians use only necrotic. There is evidence that only the lessenia palm as a "grub farm." The trees adult weevils are involved in the trans- are cut down and the logs left lying in the mission of the RRD nematode. forest. "In two or three months the whole Hill (I983) lists recommended insecti- trunk is infested with the edible larvae. cides and several cultural control methods Several hundred grams of larvae can be that are applied against R. palmarum, extracted from a single trunk. ." Dufour including elimination of breeding sites by (1987) reported that "The Tatuyo felled restricting physical injury to palms, control palms to harvest the fruits, and often of Oryctes beetles, destruction of infested returned at a later date to harvest the palms, and trapping of adult weevils. Morin larvae which subsequently developed in the et al. ( I 986) describe procedures that have pith. Palms were also cut specifically with been successfully used in Para and Bahia, the expectation that they would be invaded Brazil, since 1975. As adults are attracted by weevils and the larvae ready to harvest for feeding and reproduction to the odor in two or three months. Thus, the larvae of fermentation emanating from wounds in were both a by-product of the harvesting healthy palms or from the decay of dead of palm fruits and 'cultivated.'" Dufour or diseased palms, all injured or decaying PRINCIPES lVoL. 37 Cameroon cuisine - larves de Preparation: Larvae washed and cut in half are palmier mixed with all the condiments cited. The coconuts are chosen at half-hard stage, so that the inside, (From: Za Cuisine Camerounaise, by Jean Grimaldi completely globular, can be taken out of the husk and Alexandrine Bikia, p. 136. Thanks to Dr. Jane without being broken. The most pointed end of the Homan, UW International Agricultural Programs, for nut is cut in a way that forms a cap. The nuts are providing a copy, and to Diane Landry for a trans- emptied of their milk, then refilled with the larvae lation from the French.) and condiments and closed by attaching the caps The larvae of certain coleoptera harvested from firmly. some banana the oil palm and from the palm of genus Raphia are The nuts are stood straight up by of water eaten in Cameroon. These larvae, called "Fos" in leaves in a pot containing water. The amount course of cooking, it Ewondo, are white (oil palm) or yellow (raphia palm). should be such that, during the is rather long. They are sometimes reared. Before any preparation, cannot penetrate the nuts. The cooking the larvae are washed in a lot of water and pierced After cooking, the nuts are cut into slices. offered to good friends in the abdomen with a sharp piece of bamboo between This favorite dish is only each washing to let a white, fatty liquid escape. In and is served with manioc sticks. all regions they are prepared either by stewing, frying in oil with salt and pepper, adding to squash seed Bamoun preparation paste, or putting on brochettes grilled over coals. Among the Bamoun, the larvae are strung uP and left to dry hanging under the trellis that is found Coconut larvae recipe above the foyer. After they are well-smoked, they washed, into the Larvae coming from oil palms or raphia palms, can be incorporated, after being salt, pepper, onion, coconut. squash seed paste. trees are removed and traps are con- and early elimination of palms showing dis- structed along the edge of a plantation tinct growth disorders by felling and trans- from cut pieces of thinning, wild palms or porting the trunks to the oil factory where uninfested parts of damaged or diseased they were sawed into blocks and steam trees.