A Cross Cultural Comparison of Common Themes and Derived Functions of Insects Exploited for Entomophagy
Dustin Reuther Redacted Dustin Reuther Entomophagy
Abstract
Insects represent a vast resource for human beings around the world. Comparative to their use, little research has been done on the subject. This article looked to determine comparative functions of insects in human societies based upon their physiological and behavioral characteristics. Using primarily secondary sources and to a smaller extent personal experience and interviews the researcher develops common principles that relate universally to the practice of entomophagy. Then the research lists major insects orders used for exploitation and develops common features and key differences found in entomophagous practices of each order.
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Table of Contents
Introduction 4
Principles 5
Data and Analysis 11
Coleoptera 12
Hymenoptera 17
Isoptera 30
Lepidoptera 35
Orthoptera 41
Others 45
Conclusion 49
Notes 50
Acknowledged 51
Works Cited 52
Appendix 57
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Introduction
Insecta is the most populous animal class on Earth with estimates of over 90% of life on Earth falling under it. Though in the Western world we ignore or actively annihilate this class of animals, in many other parts of the world they hold vast importance as primary food sources, snacks and medicine. The ways in which people around the world interact with and acquire these insects gives us an extensive look at indigenous knowledge pathways. To successfully harvest insects one must be extremely familiar with their surrounding environment and the life cycle of the insects. For example, if one is unprepared for a particular swarming season then a bounty of food may be lost for that year. By looking at how populations the world over manipulate their environment for the collection of insects, we can gain a better understanding not only of food collecting strategies but also of the insects themselves.
The objective of this article is to highlight different techniques and uses of insects around the world and to examine common functions of insects (in a society) based upon their inherent biological structure and behavioral patterns. To do this a large number of secondary sources1 are used for their data, and to a lesser extent interviews and personal experiences are also used. This data provides a broad overview of many heavily exploited species across different insect orders. By using this data we can determine how, why, when and where the exploitation of these insects occurs. Understanding basic principles and functions of insects, as well as the myriad of differences between each species will help to lay the foundation for serious study of entomophagy and more generally, ethnoentomology.
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For the scope of this article entomophagy will refer to the consumption of insects and not their related cousins that are often included in entomology: annelids (earthworms, leaches) and arachnids (spiders, scorpions). It will also refer to the consumption of their products (honey, nests, etc.). Through the study of entomophagy one learns how insects and their products are prepared for use, and the reasons behind their use. In areas with vastly different cultures, but similar insects, their uses oft stay consistent. For example, an indigenous person of Africa and an indigenous person of South America will both see the termite as a food source (Bodenheimer 1951: 140-158; 305), and may also both see its mound as an important source of iron (Nonaka 1996).
Principles
Understanding the basic functions of insects in different societies can lead to an enhanced appreciation of their utilization and contribution. An absence of the insects could have a crippling effect on cultures that use these insects for dietary and medical purposes; therefore this dialogue between the environment, insects and people cannot be ignored. This dialogue looked at as a universal event shows us several common principles of entomophagy. These themes build a foundation from which the myriads of similarities and dissimilarities between cultures can best be comprehended. The eight principles are as follows:
1. Insects and their products can be highly nutritious.
2. Aggregating insects offer better yields than non aggregating insects.
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3. Seasonality dictates when insects are caught.
4. Seasonality does not dictate insect use.
5. Humans see the many insect orders as distinctive entities and the collection of
each represents a unique problem.
6. Insects are delicious.
7. Insects are medicinal.
8. Proximity is helpful but not necessary.
These principles define commonalities inherent in all heavily exploited insects around the world and throughout time. In the later section it will become apparent where these principles arise. A deeper examination of each principle further explains their significance. Each one of these principles draws attention as to why many of the following insects have been found important for consumption by human cultures.
Insects and their products can be highly nutritious. Many insects are high in protein, fat, and essential fatty acids and minerals (Ramos-Elorduy 1990; DeFoliart 1990;
Schabel 2010). Meyer-Rochow and Changkija (1996) point out that Australian witchuty grubs can have 38% protein and nearly 40% fat. Illgner and Nel (2000) calculated that
100 dried grams of mophane caterpillars has 56.8 grams of protein. DeFoliart (1990) says certain caterpillars can give us 76% of our daily protein requirement and 100% of essential minerals such as iron, copper, zinc and thiamine per 100 grams. Dufour (1987) mentions that ants, termites and caterpillars are higher in protein than fish and goes on to point out that in the northwestern Amazon insects are eaten at a point in their life cycle when they have the most nutritional value. Most times this point is extremely clear.
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Compare the size of a caterpillar to a butterfly, or a female termite sexual bulging with eggs compared to other castes of termites. Sub adult stages also typically have less chitin than other stages, which make them easier for the digestive system to process. Insect aggregation often times correlates to a mating season. In these instances the sheer amount of insects available necessitate the collection of adult stages, such as with
Bugong moths in Australia (Bodenheimer 1951).
Aggregating insects offer better yields than non aggregating insects. This includes insects that swarm, those that aggregate in pupae stages and those that live in colonies. As will be shown clearly later in this article most food insects are exploited while in an aggregation stage. This gives the collector the maximum energy output for the smallest energy input. It also makes locating the insects easier. In some areas increased aggregation can mean a greater dependence on insects is necessary, as with crop pests. The more crop pests present, the more can be caught, but also the more crop will be destroyed.
Seasonality dictates when insects are caught. For swarming insects this is essential to their mating strategy. Swarming allows these insects to find mates easier.
Mass aggregations can also be a predator defense strategy in sub adult stages, as with caterpillars, and it can also be a mix between the two as with the migratory locust. For their strategies to be successful these insects must time their aggregation precisely. Even insects that aren’t collected during an aggregation have a life cycle that is closely tied to dry and wet seasons. Evolution has directed these insects to start their cycle when they will have the best chance of survival, which can be tied to how much food is available.
This can clearly be seen in Table 1. In times of low productivity of typical resources,
7 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy insects are caught and eaten until fish and game return. This occurs with many insects in the northwestern Amazon wet season (Dufour 1987), among other areas. Because insects must time their swarms to a precise time, this allows humans to predict when and where these swarms will occur.
Seasonality does not dictate insect use. Insects such as caterpillars and locust are preserved when they are caught in their aggregation seasons and again eaten in leaner times (Illgner and Nel 2000; Raffles 2010). Because of their ability to be stored these insects remain as important food sources, even when their living counterparts are no longer relative in the environment. For storage, insects are usually dried in the sun and preserved whole, mashed into a powder or made into a cake. Certain insect products are used in medicine which can be collected anytime of the year include termite mounds
(personal experience) and wasp nests (Costa-Neto 2002).
Humans see the many insect orders as distinctive entities and the collection of each represents a unique problem. This can be seen from the fact that many different cultures use specialized tools and strategies for specific insects. In Japan buckets are placed downstream in rivers while someone upstream kicks over rocks and disturbs the sediments with wire shoes. Displaced aquatic larvae are then collected from the buckets downstream (Mitsuhashi 2003). In the Amazon (and other places around the world) long brushes are used to extract honey from nests (Bodenheimer 1951). Each insect responds to the environment in specific and unique ways. Because of this humans have developed highly specialized strategies when dealing with these specialized animals. This article will go into great detail on the different strategies employed by humans around the world.
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Insects are delicious. Many people seek out specific insects because of their taste.
In areas in Asia where the giant water bug lives (such as Thailand) it is highly prized for the making of certain dishes (Hanboonsong 2010). Insects are not eaten solely for supplying specific nutrients, but also for pleasure. In fact few insects are eaten purely for nutrition and in many societies insects make up a small part of the diet. The Xinguano
Indians of the Amazon ignore many insects that surrounding cultures consume. However the swarming of certain species (such as ant sexuals) can cause great excitement, regardless of the fact that their main function for this culture is not one of nutrition
(conversation with Michael Heckenberger on March 22, 2011). In places around the world where entomophagy has been promoted to help mitigate pest damage the main reason these strategies have been successful is because of the inherent good taste of the insects. If they had an unpleasant taste than this strategy would have failed
(Hansboonsong 2010)
Insects are medicinal. Insects are used for medicinal purposes wherever they are eaten. Insects are used to treat anything from strokes (Schabel 2010) to asthma (Costa-
Neto 2002). Some properties seem to be cross cultural such as the diuretic properties of dragon fly larvae (Bodenheimer 1951; Mitsuhashi 2003). Insects used for medicinal purposes are not necessarily insects that are used for nutritional purposes. More research in this area will likely yield results for Western medicine, as many of these insects have probably been used for hundreds or thousands of years for their medicinal properties (and not without reason).
Proximity is helpful but not necessary. Proximity assures that one spends lower amounts of energy for their food. It remains a key factor when talking about
9 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy entomophagy of non-aggregating insects. For instance the children of the Kalahari San collect various insects that wander into the camp (Nonaka 1996). In Mexico it is important for insects to be caught close to the home of peasants as they have little opportunity to increase their calorie consumption (Ramos-Elorduy 1990). Proximity, however, does not always have to be measured as close to a village. Many tribes in the
Amazon make use of palm grubs which they “cultivate” by felling trees far away from their village. They then revisit the trees and use the grubs as food while out on hunting expeditions (Choo et al. 2009). Other instances peoples will travel great distances to obtain insects. In Australia many tribes travel to Bugong Mountain where every year thousands of Bugong moths aggregate (Bodenheimer 1951). The shear amount of moths at the mountain means that tribes can set up temporary camps and gather enough moths to store and keep for leaner times. Similarly in the mopane woodlands of southern Africa there exists many temporary shelters from those traveling dozens of kilometers to collect mopane worms (the caterpillars of a Saturniidae) when they are in season. These caterpillars keep for as long as six months (others say for up to a two years) (personal experience).
With these principles understood we can now go on and look at the specific collecting techniques of insects around the world. These techniques range from the obviously simple to the extremely intensive, and sometimes much ritualized. Each one tells another part of the complex story told between humans, insects and their environment. Some strategies will seem very similar, even when the cultures that practice them are separated by vast differences. These similarities can be attributed to the similar behaviors of certain insects within orders. Other factors to consider are similar
10 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy environments and social structures. Interestingly some research has also been done tracing the consumption of certain insects to mass migrations in people (Ramandey and van Mastrigt 2010). Likely certain techniques were also passed between cultures.
The differences can be looked at as examples of the diverse ways in which humans respond to their environments and differing insects. In some cases children collect honey from bees (Nonaka 1996) and in other cases it must be men who have abstained from sex for a certain time period (Bodenheimer 1951). Such differences can be attributed to different honey yields, in which one species might offer little to a group of grown men, but might be a tasty snack for a child. It could also arise from the danger of the bees, whereas one species might be stingless and the other extremely deadly.
Another example could be that one species is easier collected (for example, from the ground) and the other could rest somewhere high in a tree or on a cliff side. One culture may see bees as trivial sources of food whereas another might rely heavily on collected honey and thus have a much more ritualized process. The answer lies in part to all of these observations, and probably an innumerable amount of others.
Data and Analysis
This article will now take a look at major insect orders that contribute to entomophagy practices the world over. Under each order the collection techniques and uses of certain species (where the species is known) will be discussed. This section is split up into the following segments:
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1. Coleoptera – Beetles
2. Hymenoptera – Ants, Bees and Wasps
3. Isoptera – Termites
4. Lepidoptera – Butterflies and Moths
5. Orthoptera – Grasshoppers and Crickets
6. Others
Under each segment the major exploited species of each order are overviewed as are the techniques for capturing and utilizing them. Following each segment is a discussion of the data for that particular insect order. This overview helps to refine and reinforce the principles mentioned above. Also, unlike the above principles which string together commonalities, by looking at many different species in an insect order one can also appreciate the differences and begin to understand why those differences exist between species and cultures.
Coleoptera – Beetles
The consumption of Coleoptera is typically limited to the larval stages; however it is not unheard of for the adults to be utilized as well. The two biggest varieties of
Coleoptera exploited are the palm weevil grub (genus: Rhynchophorus; Image 1) and the longicorn beetle (family: Cerambycidae). Both of these are wood-boring beetles. Like the later discussed Lepidoptera the pupae can typically be found on one or two tree
12 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy species, which increases the likelihood of finding pupae when the parent plant species is discovered.
Reports on the harvesting of the palm grub abound from the Amazon region.
Among the Tukanoan felled palm trees exist as food stores outside the village. After the palm trees are felled and their fruits harvested, the villagers come back two to three months later to harvest the trees a second time, this time for the palm grub (Dufour 1987).
The two species typically encountered are R. palmarum and R. barbirostris. Each can lay hundreds of eggs on a felled palm tree. R. barbirostris, the more preferred species, colonizes more mature palms where no cuts have been made along the trunk by the feller.
Collectors of R. palmarum must make cuts along the palm, exposing the inner tissues.
The R. barbirostris lay their eggs one to two days after a palm has been felled, but the R. palmarum can take as little as two hours.
Harvesters among the Jotï prefer to use the palm Oenocarpus bacaba although the beetles can be found on many other palms. Different groups can have different preferences. The larvae of both tunnel into the trunk eating the pulpy wood as they go.
Those that collect the palm grubs learn that when the larva is first boring into the palm the sawdust excreted will be of a white color, but the closer to harvesting the more dark orange or yellow it becomes. Typically this correlates to two and a quarter months until
R. palmarum can be harvested and four months until R. barbirostris can be harvested.
The later can be eaten raw, immediately upon harvest while the later induces an upset stomach if eaten raw and must be cooked. Though they can be harvested year round, the best time for harvesting is from September to January (Choo et al. 2009). Though considered less favorably, the R. palmarum reach a harvestable side quicker than the R.
13 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy barbirostris. Harvesters must balance both their nutritional needs and their taste preference. Unlike the Jotï, the Nukak consider the rainy season (July-September) to be the ideal time to harvest the weevils (Politis 2007).
Longicorn beetles are also eaten across the tropical America. These include
Macrodontia cervicornis and Stenodontes damicornis. The later are highly prized for their supreme taste. Like other wood boring beetles their larvae is dug out of trees
(Bodenheimer 1951: 301-302).
In northeastern Brazil beetles are used to treat many medical conditions. The dung beetle (genus: Megaphanaeus) is first toasted and then smashed into a powder.
From this powder a tea is made which treats asthma and strokes. The same procedure is repeated with mealworm larvae to treat intestinal and uterine colic and asthma. The peanut beetle (Palembus dermestoides) can be eaten raw or cooked as a fortifier and to treat impotency, eye irritation and rheumotism (Costa-Neto 2002). In the Caribbean R. palmarum are left out in the sun and after a time excrete an oil which is used to treat cold pains and hemorrhoids as reported by the Père Labat in 1722 (Bodenheimer 1951: 302).
R. phoenicis is exploited across Africa including reports in Angola, (DeFoliart
1990) and the Congo (Morris 2008). People in the Congo can put their ears to the tree and distinguish the stage of the larva by sound (Bodenheimer 1951: 186).
Among the San of Africa women collect the adult Sternocea oriasa in January during outbreaks. They remove the legs and take them back to the camp where they are roasted and eaten after removing the head, wings and organs. Pounded and mixed with fruits and other plants to form a paste, they become a delicious treat (Nonaka 1996).
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People in Borneo harvest R. ferrugineus much the same way as palm weevils in the Amazon. Here people peel off the head and remove the guts before consumption.
The grub is also used to treat diarrhea (Chung 2010). The people of Java utilize the same species (Lukiwati 2010).
Coleoptera and Orthoptera make up a large portion of the food for inhabitants of
Papua New Guinea (Meyer-Rochow and Changkija 1996). In the lowlands of Papua people harvest R. bilineatus and R. ferrugineus. Much like the other species they can be eaten raw or cooked. However they appear to grow much faster, when harvesting takes place one month after the palm tree is felled. One felled palm can produce five hundred to six hundred grubs (Schabel 2010). Schoolchildren also eat the adult longicorn beetle after removing the wings and legs (Ramandey and van Mastrigt 2010).
Over 150 species of insects are recognized as edible in Thailand with most of them being beetles. The dung beetle is caught in the early morning in dung and is left to soak for twelve hours in a container filled with water, to make sure it expels the contents of its intestines (Hanboonsong 2010). Bristowe (1932) reports that one tribe in Laos kills a “longtailed Presbytis-monkey” and then guts the carcass. The body is stuffed with various herbs and on the outside is smeared mud from a termite mound. Underneath the body they place a plate to collect the juices and the maggots of blow flies. Two weeks after hanging up the monkey body they cut it open and inside they extract the larvae of different beetles. These are then put into coconuts that have been heated and then cooled.
The coconuts with the larva inside are then sealed in more termite mud. After 3 weeks the coconuts are split open to reveal grubs the size of “tangerines” (Bodenheimer 1951:
256-257). The Burmese raise R. ferrugineus in coconuts (Bodenheimer 1951: 268).
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The Japanese eat the larvae of the longicorn beetle. Several species fall under this category, however the largest is Batocera lineolata whose larvae can grow up to 10 cm.
To extract the larvae from the wood a hook is used or the log is cut open. Besides being considered a delicacy they also treat malnutrition and a tea made from the larvae is used for lung trouble, pertussis and palsy (Mitsuhoshi 2003). They can be eaten raw if taken from dry wood, however if they are extracted from rotting wood they may contain parasites (Schabel 2010).
R. signaticollis is eaten among the Nagas of ortheastern India (Meyer-Rochow and Changkija 1996).
Witchuty grubs comprise of 38% protein and 39.8% fat (Meyer-Rochow and
Changkija 1996: 172). Most believe this term to refer both the larvae of moths, but more importantly to the larvae of longicorn beetles. Aborigines collect witchuty grubs in a number of ways. Using a yam stick, they are dug out of the roots of Eucalyptus trees.
Around the roots of Cassia trees a yam stick is inserted to test the resistance of the roots.
If they snap, that usually identifies the presence of grubs. When burrowed in the trees they can be removed from their holes with long hooks. Areas that experience flooding, such as marshes, will sometimes contain witchuty grubs washed up on banks which can be collected in great quantities (Bodenheimer 1951: 83-85).
The Australian Aborigines also utilize the buprestid grub. Felling grass trees for buprestid grubs works much the same way as felling palm trees for palm grubs (Schabel
2010). When a tree begins to decay it can be kicked over and searched for grubs
(Bodenheimer 1951: 102).
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Wood boring beetle grubs can be found aggregated in certain trees. For harvesters of the palm weevil this statement holds a huge importance as felling specific trees results in a harvest of hundreds of grubs. Worldwide this means that the palm weevil is one of the most important Coleopterans. Some cultures even raise the grubs themselves in coconuts. This harvesting and then rearing of grubs borders on early forms of domestication. Other beetle grubs such as the longicorn beetle can also typically be found on certain plant species. Besides hooks or axes very few tools are needed to collect wood boring grubs. This makes it much easier for collection and also helps in instances of incidental nutrition and snacks. Probably this combined with the larger size and abundance of beetles is why in places such as Thailand, Coleoptera dominate among consumed insects.
Grubs seem much preferred over the adults. This results from the easier digestibility of grubs and the fact that though the eggs are typically laid on one particular tree species that does not mean that the adults live their whole lives on one species. This makes the adults harder to find and exploit than the young. When adults are eaten, their hard elytra must be removed and typically the head and legs are removed as well.
Hymenoptera – Ants, Wasps, Bees
Ants
Much like termites, several life stages of the ant can be utilized. The soldier ants are often eaten for their meaty heads, while the sexuals of certain ants swarm much the
17 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy same as the sexuals of termites. Many of the strategies for catching these ants closely mirrors those used for Isoptera. There are certain ants however which show a unique strategy. In many arid climates honey pots ants can be found which store honey in a certain caste that act as living honey receptacles. In times of plenty they can store copious amounts of honey and in the dry season the ants can then use these living honey pots for food. Though as we will see other species can also be heavily utilized the principle ants used for food are the leaf cutter ands and the honey pot ants.
The Tukanoan Indians catch several species of the leaf cutter ant. Atta laevigata can be harvested for soldier ants by using a grass probe. Usually only the women carry out this method as it is time consuming. The winged sexuals swarm in the rainy season typically when a heavy rain is followed by a light rain. The winged sexuals of Atta cephalotes are drawn to light at night and can be captured in great quantities in baskets
(Dufour 1987). Many across the Amazon eat these raw, biting off the abdomen and throwing the rest away (Bodenheimer 1951: 304). One report by Th. Koch-Grünberg
(1909) has natives in NW Brazil building scaffolding over a nest so that the soldier ants do not bite them and then using a torch to burn the wings off the sexuals as they leave the nest (Bodenheimer 1951: 309). A village of 100 Tukanoans can go through 50kg of Atta ants a year (Paoletti et al. 2000). Image 2 shows a picture of a prepared ant dish from the northwest Amazon.
Leaf cutter ants also hold medicinal value. Toasted and ground they treat asthma and sore throats. They can also be eaten raw or fried to treat tuberculosis. Some add 100 ants to 100 mL of alcohol to relieve tendinitis. The Formicidae ant can be added to many foods to increase the taste value. The formic acid adds a citric flavor. In Brazil this ant is
18 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy used medicinally for better eye sight when combined with sugar in some water. The bullet ant (Paraponera clavata) also offers similar value. Many cherish this ant as a meal while others toast it whole and eat to treat asthma. The abdomen can be toasted and ground into a tea to use as a diuretic (Costa-Neto 2002).
The Digger Indians of California collect ants by placing a damp skin or freshly peeled bark over a nest. When the ants swarm the skin or bark the natives remove this piece and then shake the ants off for collecting. They especially enjoy the carpenter ant
(genus: Camponotus) for its formic acid but when eating it they spit out the head.
Among the inhabitants of the North American southwest the honey pot ant is also greatly treasured. One researcher, McCook (1882) collected 600 honey pots in a nest and estimated that it would take 1000 honey pots for half a kilo of honey (Bodenheimer 1951:
286-288)
The San use the Formicine ants (genus: Camponotus) much as it is used in the
Amazon. When they find a nest they poke at it with digging sticks and collect the swarming ants by hand. They wrap these ants in grass. When they harvest edible plants these ants are then added for flavor (Nonaka 1996). Early European explorers to the region called the ants the “bushmen’s rice” (Bodenheimer 1951: 138).
In Borneo the giant forest ant (genus: Camponotut) also produces formic acid that is a prized additive to foods. Worker weaver ants are also used for the same purpose in
Sarawak (Chung 2010). The red ant is also eaten here as a condiment for its formic acid
(Bodenheimer 1951: 233).
At one market in Laos weaver ant eggs were the main insect product sold
(Bohlidam 2010). In Laos the eggs and the adults are consumed, however in Siam only
19 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy the eggs are gathered. The way to gather weaver ant eggs is by first finding their nest built onto a shrub, then submerging it in a bucket of water (Bodenheimer 1951: 261).
The Burmese take the nest off the shrub and place it in a box with a small fire and smoke the ants to death. They also eat the eggs medicinally to alleviate the affects of menstruation (Bodenheimer 1951: 268). In Thailand eggs, pupae and adult ants are consumed. Farmers also raise them much the same way they do crickets (Hansboonsong
2010).
In northeastern India the fire ant (Myrmica rubra) is the most preferred insect, along with eri silkworms (Rhonghang and Ahmed 2010). These ants, adults and young together are placed onto a cloth and mashed together. After seasoning they are eaten raw with rice. These ants could alternatively be mixed with rice flour, salt and chilies into a paste to ward against fatigue (Bodenheimer 1951: 233)
The Australian Aborigines extract from the bodies of green tree ants to reduce headaches and fight fatigue (Meyer-Rochow and Changkija 1996). In the deserts of the interior the honey pot ant represents an important food source. When a nest is found the collector begins to dig down with a stick. Sometimes they can dig down the whole length of a human body. Inside various chambers will be found with the honey pots however the most are typically found near the bottom of the nest. The collector bites off the abdomen and throws the rest of the ant away. The importance of this food resource can be seen in the rituals performed by those in the interior to increase their harvest of these ants, as recorded by Spencer and Gillen in 1899 (Bodenheimer 1951: 103-110). Other species of ants are collected by disturbing the ant nest with a leg and then scraping the ants off the egg and eating them. They can also be mixed with a bark powder before
20 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy being eaten. Others collect just the pupae in September and October. The pupae are either rolled into a ball and consumed or mixed with water first (Bodenheimer 1951: 110,
114).
Ants offer a unique mix of strategies depending on the species. Unlike termites, ants can typically be seen more as a condiment than as primary food. This statement holds especially true for the consumption of worker or solider ants. The fatty bodies of the sexuals likely offer similar nutritional values as swarming termite sexuals.
Predictable emergence times increases the amount that can be captured. Other ants store honey in living receptacles underground. In arid environments these honey pots make tasty meals. These too remain a seasonal collection. Though these honey pots exist year round, during the dry season their abdomens will contain less and less honey. The only year round consumption of ants comes from the soldiers and workers and to a lesser extent the immatures and eggs, but both of these hold less preference than the sexuals or the honey pots.
Bees
Bees have captured humans’ attention around the world and throughout much of humanity. Early cave paintings show humans collecting honey from a bee’s nests in much the same way it is still done today in many parts of the world (Bodenheimer 1951:
14). Societies which place a huge emphasis on honey collecting often contain a bee cult.
They have rituals and taboos associated with the act of honey collection. The act of raising or promoting the settling of bees in artificial hives occurs on nearly every
21 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy continent on which humans have settled. The immatures also contribute to the diet of many honey harvesters. Some harvesters also consume the wax of the hive.
Bee keeping has long been practiced in North, Central and South America, since before the arrival of the Spanish (Bodenheimer 1951: 312). In 1811 Alexander Von
Humboldt counted six hundred to seven hundred hives around Campeche (Bodenheimer
1951: 318). Primitive hives typically consist of hollowed out trees while more intricate ones might be made from clay. Where bees are intensively kept special bee huts might be made that house dozens of hives. The most common genera of domesticated bees are those of the genera Melipona and Trigona, both of which are stingless (Bodenheimer
1951: 312-327).
The Kayapó in the Amazon consider four factors when harvesting bees: 1. docility 2. whether they sting 3. whether they bite and 4. whether they are blister causing.
They recognize six semi-domesticated species that can be seasonally exploited for honey and wax and three species which are brought into the village for easier harvesting. They encourage nests to grow in their fields by digging holes and placing dry logs inside, which the bees prefer to build their nests within. Though they utilize more bee species throughout the year these nine species are the only ones under some form of domestication (Posey 1982). Zent and Zent (2004) note that among the Jotï honey collections peaks in the dry season (December to March). If the bees prove to be aggressive or stinging then a torch is used to sedate the bees and the nest knocked down by a pole. The queen is always left alive. The Nuakak also primarily collect honey in the dry season (Politis 2007). One report, by Günther (1931), has wild bee species producing anywhere from three to twenty five pints of honey (Bodenheimer 1951: 315) and another,
22 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy by H. v. Ihering (1903), half a liter up to the extraordinary fifty liters (Bodenehimer
1951: 317).
Nearly ten different species contribute ingredients to folk medicine in Brazil, all of them derived from stingless bees. The pollen pots of Frieseomelita treat influenza.
The honey from Trigona capitata acts as an antidote against snake bites. Trigona spinipes offers a myriad of uses. The nest can be made into a tea to treat influenza or bronchitis. Syrup made from the nest and honey combine with white onion treats asthma.
The nest is set of fire and the smoke inhaled to treat stroke, headache, evil eye and bronchitis. The honey alone treats inflammation of the throat, smoke and diabetes.
Another bee, of the genus Melipona, makes honey that is used as a blood thinner. The wax of Plebeia, combined with a patient’s urine and boiled treats diabetes (Costa-Neto
2002). These represent just a few uses from a few bees. One can already see though the diversity of the uses from the bees. Honey and wax both represent major medicinal ingredients.
The San consume at least three different bee species. The honeybee (family:
Apidae) can be found by following the calls of the bee eater bird (Indicator indicator) or the footprints of the honey badger. Once a nest has been found ownership is marked by tying a strip of grass around the tree. To harvest the nest which occurs inside hollows of the tree, the harvester blows smoke into the hollow to sedate the bees and then enlarges the entrance to the hollow enough to take out the honey combs (Nonaka 1996). If a bee eater bird called the collector to the nest usually part of the hive is set aside for it to eat
(Bodenheimer 1951: 170). When combined with yeast for fermentation this honey makes a popular alcoholic drink. The other two species occur much sparser and produce less
23 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy honey. The leafcutter bee (genus: Megachile) is sometimes encountered when chopping firewood. The small amount of honey is given to children to lick. Children also dig up the Anthophroid bee when encountered around the village (Nonaka 1996).
African bee raisers make several different types of hives. Wooden hives come in three varieties: hollow tree trunks that already have hives are chopped down and taken back to the village; tree trunks that are hollowed to promote bee growth; or divided tree hives are used. Hives can also be made from the bark of trees. Some groups make hives out of clay, including clay jars and clay pipes. The other three types are walled up hives, dung hives and plaited hives. Many of these hives are placed horizontally on trees and when no trees are available they may be placed on poles (Bodenheimer 1951: 168-269).
Usually the collector smokes out the bees before collecting honey, however certain groups such as the Wadjagga use a fungus (genus: Lycoperdon) to stun the bees, as noted by Captain Merker in 1910 (Bodenheimer 1951: 175).
Honey collectors in Madagascar have made an ingenious observation: A foraging bee flies zig zag while a bee returning to the nest makes a straight line. One may simply watch the bees in an area and determine if they are flying in a straight path or not. If they are then one must simply follow them back to the nest (Bodenheimer 1951: 201).
H. Ingrams (1942) makes an interesting note about bee raising in Yemen. When a swarm has produced a new queen and the new swarm leaves the hive the collector takes a rolled up mat, closed at one end and perfumed and takes it to where the new colony has swarmed. The collector takes the queen and places it inside a small wooden cage and then puts this cage in a mat. Then the rest of the bees swarm inside the mat with a bit of
24 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy prodding. The collector takes this mat to the new hive location and places the cage inside the hive and the bees follow (Bodenheimer 1951: 226-267).
In Borneo the bee hives are squeezed to extract the honey and the immatures together (Chung 2010). Those who consume bees in Java fry up the larvae and pupae of the Drury bee (Xylocopa latipes; Lukiwati 2010). C. J. Van Der Zwaan (1934) recounts a honey expedition here. About thirty natives went out to collect bee hives off of the branches of trees, although only three actually climbed the trees. The hunt took place at night. The gatherers climbed the trees with torches and swung the torches when they were on the branch with the comb. The bees followed the sparks of the torches to the ground and vacated the nests which could then be lowered to the ground. About two hundred bee nests occupied the collecting area (Bodenheimer 1951: 241-242). A similar strategy is utilized in Laos. A collector climbs the tree at night and lights a ball of cotton on fire and drops it, which the bees follow. He can then remove two hundred to three hundred nests using this process (Bodenheimer 1951: 263). The entire hive, wax included, is consumed in Papua (Ramandey and van Mastrigt 2010).
Wallace (1902) gives a detailed report of a honey expedition on Timor. The gather climbs a tree with a rope and a knife and torch hanging off of him by another rope.
Then on the tree he crawls out on the branch to the bee hive, making sure to keep the smoke from the torch around his body. Once at the hive he waves his torch underneath it to force the bees to leave the nest. Then he cuts the hive off of the tree and lowers it down to his companions with a rope. Four combs where harvested from one tree
(Bodenheimer 1951: 240-241).
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The Veddas in Sri Lanka have developed a strategy for collecting bee nests from the sides of cliffs, as detailed by R. L. Spittel (1924). First they construct a rope ladder and underneath the nest they build a large fire. When night arrives the fire underneath the nest is lit. From the top of the cliff a collector is raised down on the ladder with torches affixed to it. The collector cuts away at the hive and places the honey combs in a bucket, while discarding parts of the comb that contain grubs. As his brother in law hauls up the honey buckets the collector follows it up, ascending the ladder (Bodenheimer
1951: 249-251).
Only one genus of honey bees is native to Australia (genus: Trigona). Of these the most widely exploited are Trigona carbonaria and Trigona cassiae. T. carbonaria typically produce about four to five pounds of honey in a yield, as reported by H. J.
Hockings (1884). Their honey tastes sour and the Aborigines usually smoke the bees to death first. T. cassiae can yield as much as fifty pounds of honey in a harvest
(Bodenheimer 1951: 115). When the nests occur in hard to reach rock crevices a harvester takes a long pole and attaches fibrous plant material to the end of it, which acts as a sponge for the honey. The pole can be insert and the honey wrung out until the nest is empty (Bodenheimer 1951: 117). One way to find the nest of bees is to attach a piece of down to a bee and follow it back to the nest (Bodenheimer 1951: 132-122).
Many of the native populations throughout the world harvest and keep bees.
Usually stingless bees are used for bee keeping when it can be helped. In many places around the world however bees exist in such vast quantities in the wild that bee keeping would hold little benefits. Many of the places where wild bees are caught exclusively also contain many species of stinging bees, which would not be welcomed around a
26 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy village. Harvesting wild bees involves a deep knowledge of the environment and bee species. One must weigh the risk of collecting with the reward of honey. Many of the strategies involved in collecting involve stunning or killing the bees with smoke or fungi or tricking the bees with fire. All of these are done to lessen the risk.
Domestication of bees seems a much easier task than many other animals in the world. Typical early bee domestication includes with cutting up a tree containing a nest and brining it back to the village. Advanced techniques include capturing wild swarms and building nests that seem attractive to wild swarms. Using artificial nests achieves many things. Firstly one knows where the hive will be, decreasing energy spent searching for hives. Secondly one can more easily claim ownership over a hive. Thirdly many hives have been built to allow for easier removal of combs. Artificial hives also allow one to fit more hives in an area that otherwise might not contain as many wild hives.
Wasps
Social wasps can be collected just like bee nests. Typically the whole nest is boiled up and the adults and young eaten together. The nest itself has been used medicinally across the world. Unlike bees, wasps aren’t known for producing honey, so while collecting strategies remain similar, the objective is fundamentally different in just trying to collect animal protein. In this sense wasp collecting resembles the collecting of non honey pot ants.
27 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy
The Tukanoan collected Apoica thoracica from high in the trees (Dufour 1987).
Medicinal syrup is produced in Brazil by combining the nest of Polistes canadensis with water and sugar. This syrup treats against normal cough and whooping cough. The nest of Mud Wasps (family: Sphecidae) treats asthma when turned into a tea. Paper wasp’s
(Polybia sericea) nests can be smoked and the inhalation of this smoke treats stroke.
Another paper wasp’s (Apoica pallens) nest can be turned into a tea to treat for asthma.
The spider wasp’s (family: Pompilidae) legs are toasted and made into a tea to treat asthma. Velvet ants (family: Mutillidae) toasted and then ground into a tea stops children from wetting the bed (Costa-Neto 2002). Some species of wasps (Nectarinia mellifica and Polybia occidentalis) in Brazil also produce and store honey which can be collected
(Bodenheimer 1951: 315). It has also been reported that a teaspoon of a certain wasps’s honey can induce coma or death (Bodenheimer 1951: 328).
The Japanese have devised an ingenious way to find and gather the larvae, pupae and sometimes the adults of the wasp Vespulaw lewisi. This wasp builds its nests underground, making it difficult to find to harvest. However collectors have realized that the wasp’s preferred meat comes from a frog. Therefore they kill a frog and slice up the meat and tie ribbons to the pieces of meat. When a wasp comes to collect a piece of meat the ribbon hanging from it makes it easier to follow back to its nest. Once the nest has been discovered they insert a firecracker into it to stun the wasps and then the nest can be dug out and the pupae and larvae collected. They are then fried up with soy sauce and sugar. This meal also carries a medicinal use in soothing nervous children (Mitsuhashi
2003). Certain collectors take young nests back to their houses to raise these wasps under more controlled conditions and contests even exist for collectors with the biggest nests.
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Enough demand for these wasps exists that an import trade for them has developed
(Nonaka 2010). The Chinese also seek out and consume this wasp (Bodenheimer 1951:
278 – 279).
Giant hornets (genus: Vespa) are also collected in Japan. The same strategy is used as above with a few modifications. The wasp is large enough that ribbons are unnecessary, although some people tie the ribbon directly to the wasp when they land to forage the meat. Also unlike the Vespula wasp a protective suit must be worn when trying to collect the giant hornet. Those that lack protective suits collect these wasps at night, when the wasps are calmer. Because of their size their intestines must be removed before cooking. A liquor can also be made using these wasps (Nonaka 2010).
In Borneo wasp hives are also sought after. The hive with the young in it is squeezed to extract the liquid and young. The adults can be boiled to negate the venom in the stingers (Chung 2010).
Though certain wasps do produce honey, typically they seem to be harvested more for their pupae and larvae. Collection is done similar to bees when the nests are in trees, as wasps offer the same dangers as bees. Ground nesting wasps hold a high importance for the Japanese and Chinese who have developed a unique strategy for finding these hidden nests. However once the nest is found collection follows closely with that of bee hives, since the wasps sting. The popularity of the wasp seems less than that of the bee. This can be related to quantity and the fact that little honey is produced, if at all. The taste may also be significantly different since many of the wasp species are predatory. This diet may affect their flavor compared to herbivorous bees.
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Isoptera – Termites
Termites are consumed heavily in Africa and less so in the Americas and India.
They are even less common but also consumed in Indonesia and Australia. All of the collected termites live in colonies and most of them live in above ground mounds. This collective behavior makes it extremely easy to collect a vast amount of termites in a short amount of time with the right techniques. For the most part though it is the sexuals
(Image 3) which leave the nests in swarms after rains, filled with eggs, which are the most sought after. It is not uncommon for the termite mounds to be consumed for certain medicinal and nutritional properties.
Dr. Pales tested fried termites from Pita and live termites from Dakar and found out that 100 grams of fresh termites is composed of 23.2% protein and 347 calories compared to 100 grams of beef which has 16.9% protein and 127 calories. 100 grams of fried termites had 45.6% protein and 508 calories compared to dried-fish which has
43.7% protein and 203 calories (Bodenheimer 1951: 31). In both cases termites offer more protein and more fat than the comparative meat.
Tukanoan Indians in the Amazon use Isoptera (genus: Syntermes) soldiers for food and use the females for fishing and for eating. Soldiers are collected by inserting strips of leaves into the nest. The strips are then withdrawn and soldiers will have attached themselves to the leaves, trying to attack an intruder. The females are collected by reducing the number of exit holes from the nest with leaves and collecting them as they come out of the more easily managed exits (Dufour 1987).
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In Bahia, Brazil the black termite’s (family: Termitidae) mound is smoked and inhaled to cure asthma. It can also be combined with scrapes of Caesalpinia to treat pneumonia. Also, the sunset side of the mound can be harvested and boiled then strained to treat strain or asthma attacks (Costa-Neto 2002).
Harvester termites (Hodotermes mossambicus) are collect in the Kalahari infrequently after heavy rains by the San (Morris 2008). The soldiers and workers have a bitter taste. When the flight of the egg heavy females begins the women rush to the termite mounds and plug the exit holes with grasses. When there are few termites they are eaten on the spot after removing the heads and wings. A larger amount leads to them being cooked in hot ashes and sand. Another harvester termite is collected by children who sit near the hole of termites and remove them as they emerge. They remove the wings and eat them raw. This termite emerges in the rainy season, but not necessarily after a heavy rain. From the mound they extract yeast to make liquor (Nonaka 1996).
In Zambia it is reported that some tribes prefer the taste of winged termites to the meat of other game (Illgner and Nel 2000).
Flying termites are highly prized in Tanganyika. Around the mounds a frame is built which is then covered with leaves or cloth. A small opening is left near the ground and underneath the opening a basin of water is placed. As the insects surge out of the opening many get stuck in the water and can be easily collected. They can be eaten on the spot or dried for storage or the market (Bodenheimer 1951: 140).
The Bantu in Africa cover termite mounds with banana leaves and inside place traps with funnel-shaped openings. The Azande and Mangbetu enforce ownership of termite mounds. The Hottentots use a stick with a stone on the end to break into termite
31 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy mounds and eat workers and solders. On Banana Island termites are skimmed off the water after swarming and then boiled. Natives of the Congo catch the winged termites by placing water basins around the mounds. Another strategy they have developed is to cover the mound in leaves and create small pockets on the sides which quickly fill with the winged termites. They catch workers and soldiers by smoking them out of the nest.
Around Bangala grooves “55 cm. deep and 30-35 cm. broad” (Bodenheimer 1951: 148) are dug and surrounded with torches, details Hegh (1922). The termites are attracted to the light and then collected easily from the grooves. A hut is constructed above termite hills in Sankuru-Kasai. The flying termites get stuck inside and are easily collected from inside. In the same groups children insert palm leaves into holes on the hill and remove them, covered in soldier termites. Within Luebo and surrounding districts exits to the mound are blocked except for one. On this one exit is placed a torch. The torch burns off the wings of the termites so that they can no longer fly. Indigenous peoples also insert brooms deep into termite mounds and twist it until it is full of soldiers biting onto it. At High Uelé variations of the above are also practiced, such as burning wings and building huts with grooves at the bottom around the mounds. (Bodenheimer 1951: 141-
150).
F. Bryk (1927) notes the use of a special instrument employed by the people of
Mt Elgon who build ceramic traps which they put over termite holes. Tubes leads from the termite hole to a collecting chamber. Leaves separate the tube from the chamber, making it a one way trip for the termites. Above the collection chamber is a hole from which termites can be taken out (Bodenheimer 1951: 152). The Yafobas of the Ivory
Coast put brooms above the termite holes. The sexuals climb up the bristles before flying
32 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy off and can be easily picked off by hand. The termites, collected by women and girls, are then placed into vessels and are sprinkled with water to keep them from flying away
(Bodenheimer 1951: 153).
Tribes living in the Okavango Delta dig a hole and surround it with reeds. The reeds are then lit on fire. Termites at night are attracted to the reeds and collect in the holes. Tribes in other areas around southern Africa eat termite mounds for their iron content, especially pregnant women (personal experience).
In Borneo the flying termite sexuals are collected by placing a water basin under a source of light (Chung 2010). In Java candles are put on the end of bamboo and termites are attracted to the light. The candles burn off their wings and they are then simply collected (Bodenheimer 1951: 236).
In north-east India only the winged sexual termite is collected (Reticulitermes flavipes) and it is typically fed to fish (Rhonghang and Ahmed 2010). In southern India, though the termite Odontotermes formosanus has medicinal properties. The wings can be stored in an earthen pot and then must be consumed for three evenings to cure asthma. It is also thought that termites have antimicrobial properties due to their close living conditions. The Kannikaran and Palligan tribes eat termites to increase lactation in women. Maxwell-Lefroy reported in 1909 that boys aged 12-14 were given termite queens to consume to increase endurance (Wilsanand 2005: 122-123).
Around East India holes are dug into termite mounds before the sexuals swarm.
One hole faces the wind and the other is just opposite of it. On the side facing the wind a small fire is built to smoke the termites out of the nest. On the opposite side a pot is placed which has been rubbed with herbs. The termites are driven into the pots in great
33 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy quantities. Elsewhere in India branches are placed over the holes and the sexuals are smoked out. The queens are considered to be both an aphrodisiac and a boon for the elderly (Bodenheimer 1951: 232-233).
In Australia pounded termite hills are used to cure colds (Bodenheimer 1951: 21;
82).
Termites represent an important food source in rural Africa and other parts around the world. In most cases it is the winged sexuals which are highly prized. They almost always emerge after heavy rains in the beginning of the rainy season. This makes their emergence very predictable. This predictable behavior allows people in Africa to build constructs over the mounds, clear the area around the mounds and/or dig holes and grooves around the mounds. In India they even smoke out the sexuals before they swarm. This predictable behavior isn’t limited to the swarm time however. Many cultures around the world take advantage of the termites which emerge at night being attracted to light. With hundreds or thousands of termites leaving their mounds in an area these light sources serve as aggregation points for the dispersing termites. The third common feature taken advantage of is the physical characteristics of their wings. They easily fall off, as they must detach them themselves before digging their new nests.
Strategies such as burning off the wings or placing obstructions over the holes so the wings fall off are examples of this.
Like other insects they are typically boiled or baked and then dried in the sun for longer storage. They can however be eaten raw, typically when few are caught or as a snack while catching a large amount. When this happens with the sexuals the wings are removed and sometimes the head is removed as well. Other times just the abdomens are
34 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy bitten off. In the soldiers the head contains most of the nutrients. The queens are highly prized in India for the medicinal effects and in many African cultures the chiefs reserve the rights to the queen.
Lepidoptera – Butterflies and Moths
Typically the larval stage (more commonly known as caterpillars) of Lepidoptera is consumed. Often times the caterpillars consume only one or a very few types of trees.
This means that when the host tree is found it may contain several or dozens of caterpillars on it. This is another form of aggregation that helps humans to gather a large quantity with a smaller amount of energy output. The adults can also be consumed, especially in Australia with the Bugong moths. Other cultures consume the Lepidoptera while it cocoons.
Southern Africa might currently have the largest entomophagy industry in the world with the collection of “mopane worms” (also known as phane, or mophane among other names; Images 4 and 5). These are really the caterpillar of the species Imbrasia belina, however it might also contain another species as both a “red” and “green” variety are acknowledged. The season for collecting occurs in December, January and March,
April (Mpuchane et al. 2001). They live mainly on Mophane trees, of which make up vast woodlands in the southern African region. The Mophane woodlands stretch west from Namibia and Angola, east through Mozambique, north from Zambia and south into
South Africa. They can also be found on the Amarillo tree and others (Illgner and Nel
2000).
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Children as young as twelve or thirteen can start collecting, but it is usually more heavily done by adults. It can be collected around villages, or other times people will travel dozens of kilometers to set up make shift camps in Mophane woodlands. The collector picks the caterpillar off the trees and squeezes out the contents of their intestines and puts them in a bucket. Sometimes they must wear gloves as the caterpillar contains thorny protrusions. One person can typically fill around four buckets in a season. Other times the caterpillars can be collected from the ground, as they burry themselves before cocooning. They are then later boiled. After boiling for around twenty minutes salt or ash (to keep them from being eaten by ants) is added and they are left to dry in the sun for a day or two. Thus dried they can last for up to two years. When they are ready to be eaten they are once again boiled. During season they might be eaten as much as three times a week as a substitute for other meats during meals (personal experiences and interviews with Stella Bayinyi and others in October of 2010).
People in Malawi can gather as much as 14.65 kilograms of mopane per hectare.
Others have reported collecting up to 40 pounds in an hour. Seventy percent of ethnic groups in Namibia collect mopane worms. 100 grams of dried mopane contains 56.8 grams of protein and 444 calories and can be stored for months or years (Illgner and Nel
2010). Other caterpillars have been measured at giving 76% of an individual’s daily recommended protein and more than 100% for minerals such as iron, copper, zone, thiamine and riboflavin per 100 grams dried (Defoliart 1990).
In the Kalahari the San recognize up to five species of edible caterpillars. The most important is the hawk moth (Herse convolvuli). They emerge from late January to early February. When they appear the women leave and make camp where they are
36 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy found for a few days. The importance of this caterpillar can easily be recognized in the fact that before a sedentary lifestyle was forced upon the San this was the main reason to settle down in an area and make a camp. Much like mopane their intestines are squeezed out and then they are roasted in hot ashes and sand. They can last and will be eaten for up to several months. Another hawke moth (family: Sphingidae) is occasionally eaten during the rainy season, but is generally left alone because of a strong “grassy odor.” The same can be said for the Nocturid moth. The mopane moth (family: Saturniidae) is considered a rare delicacy. The cocooned Lasiocampid moth hangs from trees covered in a spiky armor. The San use grass to rub the spikes off the cocoon and then roast it over a fire and eat the contents (Nonaka 1996).
In the Republic of Cameroon at least twenty one edible caterpillars are recognized
(Bodenheimer 1951: 188).
The Tukanoan Indians of the northwestern Amazon recognize at least four types of edible caterpillars, with those of the families Nocuidae and Lacosomidae being the most easily identified. As they travel from the forest canopy to the floor to pupate they become easier to gather. They too are tied to specific trees, with one being found on
Erisma Papuva and another on cassava. Much like termites the caterpillars are turned into fish bait or food for human consumption (Dufour 1987). Estimates show that the
Tukanoans only exploit .01% of the edible caterpillars living around their villages
(Paoletti et al. 2000). Despite this, widespread use of caterpillars is reported across South
America in the Andes, (a caterpillar which resembles the silk worm), in Brazil (bamboo boring Hepialid moths), in British Guiana (congregating hawk moths) among many other places (Bodenheimer 1951: 307).
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In NE Brazil the cocoon of the case moth (family: Psychidea) is smoked as a cure for strokes. Another moth (family: Pyralidae) is boiled in water and this water is drunk three times a day to treat asthma (Costa-Neto 2002).
The Native Americans around California eat pine caterpillars. To capture them they dig a trench around pine trees and start a fire. The smoke causes the caterpillars to fall from the trees where they can be easily collected (Bodenheimer 1951: 290).
Australian Aborigine tribes travel to the mountains of New South Wales where every year millions of Bugong Moths (Agrotis infusa) gather on granite outcrops (Meyer-
Rochow and Changkija 1996). G. Bennett gives a detailed description of the bugong moth collecting. The tribes congregate in the granite crevices where the moths swarm.
At the bottom of these crevices fires are lit and the smoke suffocates the moths. They can then be easily swept off of the crevice with sticks onto the ground. A preparation area is made by clearing a large area of the ground and building a fire. Once the ground is hot enough the fire is cleared and replaced by the moths. The Aborigines stir the moths around on the heated ground until they are roasted and the wings and down removed.
They are then either eaten or mashed into cakes for longer storage. G. Bennett (1834) estimates that one granite outcrop could contains as many as six bushels of moths
(Bodenheimer 1951: 94-97).
The famous witchuty grubs of Australia are thought to be the larvae of both beetles and moths and can have up to 38% protein and nearly 40% fat (Meyer-Rochow and Changkija 1996: 172). The beetle larva is most likely that of the longicorn beetle.
The moth larva is likely from the ghost moth (Trictena argentata) which commonly inhabits large areas throughout Australia. Much like mopane pupates in the ground
38 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy around mophane trees, the ghost moth pupates in the ground around gum trees where it can be easily scavenged. The adults are drawn to light at night and natives set many fires to collect them. One report estimated a female containing almost 45,000 eggs. In the south they appear after fall rains and in the north they appear around heavy rains.
(Bodenheimer 1951: 83; 87-88).
Spingingidae moths are consumed in Borneo, after removing the wings and boiled. Pupae of the family Hesperiidae (Erionota thrax) secrete a white substance that is used to cure pimples (Chung 2010). In Java whole villages turn out to look for the cocoons of the teak caterpillar (Hyblaea puera). Some find out that they are allergic to this cocoon, though that doesn’t stop much of the village. By eating the cocoons of the caterpillars the villages effectively control the population of this pest (Lukiwati 2010).
Entomophagy is also used in Thailand as a pest management strategy with the sugar-cane boring caterpillar (Chilo tumidicostalis; Hansboonsong 2010). Sphingidae caterpillars are consumed in Papua. Typically they harvested when encountered on food plants. The immature of the moth Syntherata apicalis of this family can be found in collective silk nests (Ramandey and van Mastrigt 2010).
Silkworms remain as one of the few domesticated insects. Typical silkworm farms can be up to 40,000 hectares, complete with well maintained trees and armed guards to ward off people and hungry birds (Schabel 2010). Silkworms are eaten in
Japan (Mitsuhashi 2003), Thailand (Hanboonsong 2010) Korea and China, Burma and many other parts of Asia. The pupae are a byproduct of the silk harvesting. The silk cocoons are boiled and the pupae removed, already cooked. They can then be further cooked with extra spices, pounded or dried and stored for later use (Bodenheimer 1951:
39 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy
267; 269). They are reported to contain around 53% protein dried (Sirimingkararat et al.
2010). The wild silkworm (the “eri” silkworm) is also eaten in Thailand and northeastern India (Rhonghang & Ahmed 2010).
In China athletes consume caterpillars (Hepialus armoricanus) that are infected by a fungus (Cordyceps sinensis) to increase endurance. Koreans use the silkworm caterpillar once it has been infected with the fungus Beauveria bassiana to treat strokes
(Schabel 2010).
Lepidoptera show us a different set of harvesting strategies. Unlike say Isoptera, they typically can be found on a select few tree species, relative to their own species.
This means that if one knows which trees the larval stages can be found on they become much easier to collect. It also means that the larval stages most likely aggregate on that species. Places such as the mophane woodlands of Africa which comprise nearly entirely of one species of larval aggregating trees become vast nurseries for caterpillars. These places express the ability to feed whole countries. The sheer amount of animal protein doubled with the long term storage capacity gives Lepidoptera the ability to be an important food source of communities year round, and especially during lean times.
Eating immature stages can often not only benefit a community nutritionally, but can also be used as a pest control method for protecting important crops. Capturing the immature stages requires no special tools except gloves for prickly species. Preserving the immature stages only require a couple days of sunlight and salt or ash.
Rarely do adults become a large contributor except when they aggregate at lights, or swarm at particular places in particular seasons. The wings offer little to no nutritional value, and more likely than not pose a problem for digestion. However in places such as
40 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy
Bugong Mountain they offer the same opportunities for nutrition as do mopane caterpillars. Capturing the adults requires a bit more technique since their mobility is of a higher order than the sluggish caterpillars or immobile pupae. As seen though, this involves using fire to stun or suffocate the adults which results in a straightforward harvest.
Orthoptera – Grasshoppers and Crickets
Since the beginning of farming humans have detested the locust swarm. However in many parts of the world they are eaten almost in revenge for the swaths of destruction they carve in the landscape. One species of grasshoppers even has a life cycle related to the growth of millet (Raffles 2010: 218). A year of great locust harvests means a year of little crop harvests. However with the ability for long term storage and their highly nutritious nature many times eating these insects allows farmers to cope with the fact.
Grasshoppers and crickets both can typically be found in farmlands and lend valuable protein to a diet which may be nearly totally comprised of crops. Certain Grasshopper species were analyzed to contain 64% protein fresh and desert locusts 75% protein dried
(Meyer-Rochow and Changkija 1996: 173).
Natives of the American southeast consume locusts and the Cherókee make gruel from their bodies (Posey 1976). In California tribes would designate a circle in the landscape and dig pits around this circle. The natives then let the grass on fire in the middle of the circle. Grasshoppers that escape are collected in the pits and those that don’t are already roasted. Another group in Washington uses a similar method. They
41 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy spread out in a circle and use sticks to beat the bush and drive the locusts into a pit in the center (Bodenheimer 1951: 214-215). The Shoshoco use the same tactic and can fill a hole up to twelve feet in diameter and up to five feet deep full of grasshoppers from up to four acres (Bodenheimer 1951: 289).
Chileans made bread out of locusts when grain was in low supply (Bodenheimer
1951: 309).
Medicinal uses for Orthoptera in Bahia, Brazil include a tea made from powdered cricket legs to use as a diuretic and a tea made from turning the whole cricket into a powder and using that to treat asthma and as a diuretic. The toasted exoskeleton of a grasshopper helps to treat skin disease and stroke when used in tea. A tea made from the whole grasshopper treats asthma and hepatitis (Costa-Neto 2002).
Farmers in the Philippines and Thailand have turned the locust pest into food to mitigate the damages they cause (DeFoliart 1996). The government of Thailand initiated a campaign to increase the consumption of locusts during a year of intense infestation.
They became so popular that some farmers now grow maize just to harvest the locust. To catch mole crickets here a hole is made in the ground near the nest. Water is then poured into the hole and the mole crickets swim to the surface. To make extra money some farmers even raise crickets. A cement tank or wooden container is filled with soil and woody vegetation and covered with nylon net. The crickets are fed chicken feed, grasses and weeds and the farmer must be sure to keep them supplied with water (Hanboonsong
2010). At a market in Thailand bamboo caterpillars were most popular, followed by
Bombay locust, white crickets and mole crickets (Sirimungkararat et al. 2010)
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Orthoptera contribute greatly to the diets of people living in Papua New Guinea
(Meyer-Rochow and Changkija 1996). Along with finding them in rice patty fields, grasshoppers (Valanga nigricornis) can also be harvested from rubber plantations. A cricket that lives in the lowlands of Java (Brachytrupes portentosus) was analyzed and found to contain 121 calories and 12.9 grams of protein per 100 grams (Lukiwati 2010:
101). In Laos crickets are harvested from March to December and grasshoppers year round. At a market in Laos grasshoppers accounted for 23% of the insects sold and crickets accounted for 13%, both only outsold by weaver ant eggs (Bohlidum 2010). In
Borneo farmers eat grasshoppers and mole crickets (Gryllotalpa longipennis) which frequently occur in their fields (Chung 2010).
The Japanese catch certain grasshoppers (Oxya yezoensis and Oxya japonica) in their rice field and consume them for extra protein. They use a bag with a bamboo sticking out of it when collecting. The insects are pushed down the bamboo tube into the bag and cannot escape (Mitsuhashi 2003).
To catch Orthoptera in northeastern India collectors flood gullies and ravines with water during spring plowing (Rhonghang and Ahmed 2010).
Migrating locust remain to this day an important food source in North Africa and the Middle East. This holds especially true for nomadic groups (Bodenheimer 1951:
214). One way of catching them is to place a sheet on the ground and wait for it to be covered with the locusts (Bodenheimer 1951: 215). In the Sahara they are prepared by first digging a hole, then making a fire inside of it, after this the embers are removed and replaced by locusts. The hole is filled in and a fire is made on top of it (Bodenheimer
1951: 205). Some groups have certain taboos about eating locust and preparation.
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Jewish people only eat the females. Muslims only consider them clean if they are killed by a Muslim (Bodenheimer 1951: 203).
Ethiopians fill ravines with flammable material and when the locusts swarms come they light the ravines on fire. The smoke suffocates the locust and they fall to the ground in such great quantities that collection can last for days. After salting they can last for year round consumption (Bodenheimer 1951: 41). In Madagascar Locusta migratoria can be caught at night, and easily collected after setting fire to the bushes they rest on (Bodenheimer 1951: 199). One swarm in Kenya held 10 billion locusts
(University of Florida Book of Insect Records 1997: 67-68).
Nigerians consider eating locusts to be a fundamental part of being Nigerian
(Raffles 2010: 213). A fall harvest of crops also means fall harvest of locusts, though they are collected year round. During the fall a few pounds can be collected every day and then the locusts fill people’s tables, replacing meat (Raffles 2010: 226-227). Long term storage assures that the locust can still be eaten in great quantities throughout the year. Even when there are no swarms present, multitudes of non swarming grasshoppers and crickets and even locust can be caught in the fields.
The San of the Kalahari eat various grasshoppers (family: Aerididae) as they come across them in and around camps. They pick off the legs, roast them and then discard the head and eat them or turn them into a powder and mix it into maize powder
(Nonaka 1996). The San near the cape also combine ground up locust with fat and grease and bake that into cakes (Bodenheimer 2951: 164).
Orthoptera fill a niche in entomological strategies very similar to the caterpillars of the Lepidoptera. Certain times of the year great swarms abound in much of the world
44 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy and they can be stored for months after boiling and salting. Not all swarm however and many can be caught year round. Mostly the gathering of Orthoptera occurs in and around agricultural land. Because of this in many parts of the world farmers and their families are the primary collectors. Farmers in parts of the world endemic to locust swarms mitigate their losses with the collection of locusts.
Unlike other insects, the adult stage is eaten more so than the nymph. Before the adult can be eaten, the wings and the legs must be torn off. The legs can get stuck in the throat if not removed. They seem to almost always be cooked before being eaten.
Certain groups around the world have taboos about certain locusts, like Jewish populations not eating the males. Few specialized tools are needed for their collecting; meaning that nearly anyone of any age can collect them. Most of the strategies for collection in large quantities involve fire, although in some areas there abounds so many locusts that any particular strategy is not necessary.
Various Others
Though it is impossible to cover every insect consumed around the world in just one article, there still exists several other species and orders that must be covered. In this section each will be covered on a case by case basis. They highlight the diversity of human preferences around the world. Certain of the following orders and species show human ingenuity and pragmatism at its finest in their collection and uses. Other species show that many of these insects hold basic core functions that have been appreciated across the globe.
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Both the American (Periplaneta americana) and the White cockroach are toasted and then used to treat asthma in Brazil. Water from which the American cockroach was boiled in goes towards treating heartburn. A tea made from this cockroach also helps with constipation (Costa-Neto 2002). In Indonesia Blattodea are collected from decaying wood (Ramandey van Mastrigt 2010). The people of Laos eat cockroach eggs. Some consider the adults to stink, but others still consider them a good snack (Bodenheimer
2951: 260).
Swarming aquatic Diptera are food for many lacustrian communities. In Africa communities living on Lake Nyasa, (Illgner and Nel 2000) Lake Tanganyika
(Bodenheimer 1951: 20) and Lake Victoria (Ayieko and Oriaro 2008) eat these lake flies.
On all of the lakes these flies are caught by locals and mashed into cakes. Collectors wait until the gnat swarms have crossed the lake and rest on the ground and on shrubs on Lake
Tanganyika (Bodenheimer 1951: 20). On Lake Victoria the principle species consumed is from the genus Chaoborus. The swarms settle near specific shrubs and hills around the lake, congregating into huge clouds. Locals weave baskets and attach them to sticks around three meters long and whirl these in the air until a sufficient number are captured.
The cakes are boiled and then sundried and can be stored for later consumption (Ayieko and Oriaro 2008). In North America natives around California collected lacustrian flies around rivers by their village. They would build a dam of logs downstream and upstream would shake the flies off of willow trees, where they aggregated, and into the water.
Downstream these flies could be skimmed off the top of the water in enormous quantities. These flies would then be roasted and steamed and made into cakes
(Bodenheimer 1951: 291).
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May flies (Ephemeroptera) collection takes place much the same way lake fly collection does. In Papua collectors use mosquito nets to capture them from the air and the surface of the water in lakes and rivers, which they die on in great quantities. At night they can be captured by placing a basin of water underneath a lamp. Before eating they are roasted (Ramandey and van Mastrigt 2010).
From the Hemipteran order, cicadas are consumed around the world in places such as the North American Southwest (Posey 1976) Australia (Morris 2008) and Japan
(DeFoliart 1996). The Japanese in particular eat at least two species of cicada
(Oncotympana maculicollis and Graptopsaltria nigrofuscata). They trap the nymphs as they ascend from the ground and crawl up the trees. To do this the Japanese wrap the tree in wire mesh and curve the top of the wire down so that the cicada nymphs aggregate towards to top of the wire. Before eating the wings are removed and the cicadas are fried up. Typically salt and/or soy sauce is used for seasoning. G. nirofuscuta has medicinal value in treating heart disease. The left over shell from the nymph molting has a myriad of medicinal uses including being used as a tranquilizer, reducing cough, fever, toothache and as a diuretic (Mitsuhashi 2003). In Borneo cicadas are collected at night by smoking them off of trees. Just like in Japan the wings are removed and they are fried (Chung
2010). In Thailand cicada collection takes place in the morning. If the cicada has climbed high on the tree and stick with a bag full of cotton is used for collection
(Hanboonsong 2010).
Most cicadas reproduce on multi year cycles. In Papua they (Cosmopsaltra waine) emerge every other year. They are collected in the early mornings as they emerge
47 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy
(Ramandey van Mastrigt 2010). North American natives eat the seventeen year cicada species, among others (Bodenheimer 1951: 285).
The giant water bug (Lethocerus indicus) plays an important roll in many dishes in Southeast Asia. Collectors use black lights to attract them in Thailand (Hanboonsong
2010). Typically collection is done by farmers as they are encountered in their paddy field (Sirimingkararat et al 2010). Van Eek analyzed two different water bug species and found them both to contain almost 40% protein (Bodenheimer 1951: 236).
Also from the Hemipteran order are scale bugs and Psyllids which are appreciated by many peoples living in arid environments. These insects feed on plants and when utilized by humans it is for their sugary secretions and not the insect itself. The
Australian Aborigines eat these secretions (Morris 2008). In Australia and other parts of the world these insects aggregate on certain plants (eucalyptus in Australia) and their secretions can be scraped off (Bodenheimer 1951: 72). These scraped off secretions are then soaked in water (Bodenheimer 1951: 128). In the Middle East collectors make sure they collect it in the morning before the ants have plundered the same resource
(Bodenheimer 1951: 220). The Kurds eat a particular type of manna made by oak aphids.
It appears on the underside of leaves as a gummy liquid and is harvested into balls, usually with bits of oak leaves still present (Bodenheimer 1951: 222-223).
Many around the world also collect the aquatic nymphs of dragonflies. They are utilized in different historical foods in Japan (Mitsuhashi 2003). Primarily farmers catch them in Borneo. They use a sieve in their paddy fields for collection (Chung 2010). In
Java the species consumed is Pantala flavescens (Lukiwati 2010). The Pangwe people of central Africa collect dragonfly larvae for their diuretic properties (Bodenheimer 1951:
48 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy
190). Adult dragonflies are consumed on Lombok. The collectors coat twigs in birdlime to catch them (Bodenheimer 1951: 237).
People eat lice in many places. In Russia, nomadic tribes eat them right off their shirts, passing the whole shirt under their mouths in a methodical manner (Bodenheimer
2951: 40). Australian Aborigines eat lice off of their friends’ heads as a sign of closeness
(Bodenheimer 1951: 134). In Indonesia women eat head lice (Bodenheimer 1951: 236).
Conclusion
Though thousands of insect species are consumed around the world, this article only touched on some of the most popular. Each one of the species covered represents a unique challenge to collectors and gives further insight in how cultures view and utilize their surrounding environment. Through physical and behavioral similarities of certain species one can see how similar strategies for exploitation have developed across the globe. These similarities also lend themselves towards these insects having related roles in societies. By going through the insect orders and finding these underlying principles of utilization we can better understand the insect’s role as well as the human’s role in the environment. The responses of both mingle to create a complex web of relationships and feedbacks. By mapping out this web we gain an increased appreciation of our role in the environment.
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Notes
1 Bodenheimer’s 1951 text Insects as Human Food is used quite extensively throughout the article. This work is an indispensable compilation of resources from the 1700’s, 1800’s and early 1900’s. Because of the difficulty of obtaining many of the primary resources this book is used instead. In heavily detailed areas the original author and date are used. Otherwise, incidental references give the page number back to Bodenheimer’s work where the reference was found.
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Acknowledgements I would principally like to thank Dr. Oyuela-Caycedo for his guidance, help and inspiration throughout the years. I would also like to thank Dr. Heckenberger for always being available to talk and for the numerous times he’s assisted me, Mr. Thebe from the University of Botswana for helping me on this project, Stella Bayinyi for the interviews and Keitseng Monyatsi for lending me your resources.
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19-21 2008. Patrick B. Durst, Dennis V. Johnson, Robin N. Leslie and Kenichi Shono, eds. Pp. 105-114. Bangkok: RAP Publication
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Appendix
Table 1
Insect Location Seasonality Coleoptera Rhynchophorus Amazon (Jorï) End of the Wet Season (September/January) Amazon (Nukak) Dry Season Diptera Chaoborus Lake Victoria Beginning of Wet Season Hemiptera Lethocerus South-East Asia Wet Season (May-October) indicus Hymenoptera Atta Amazon Wet Season for Winged Sexuals Various Bees Amazon, Indonesia, East Dry Season Africa Formica South Australia Wet Season (September and October) consobrina Myrmecia pyriformis Myrmecia Sanguinea Isoptera Worldwide Wet Season for Winged Sexuals Lepidoptera Imbrasia belina Sub-Saharan Africa Early/Late Wet Season (December/January and March/April) Herse convolvuli Kalahari Early Wet Season (Late January and Early February) Agrotis infusa Australia Wet Season (November-January) Orthoptera Oxya velox South-East Asia Wet Season (May-December) Locusta North-East China End of Wet Season migratoria Nigeria End of Wet Season Table 1 illustrates the main seasons of collection for several different insect species. Wet season and Dry season were used as the actual months mean very little when talking about different locations across the world. It should be noted however that Wet seasons and Dry seasons typically are more distinct in tropical zones with more temperate zones
57 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy having a smaller distinction. It becomes obvious when looking at the table that a majority of the insects are collected during the wet season.
Image 1
Photo courtesy of Dr. Oyuela-Caycedo. Rhyncophorous grubs collected from a palm near Iquitos, Peru.
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Image 2
Photo courtesy of Dr. Oyuela-Caycedo. Ants prepared with hot peppers and syrup made from concentrated sugar cane blocks in Leticia, Colombia by the Huitotos Indians.
59 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy
Image 3
Photo courtesy of Eric Milis. Flying termite sexuals in Gaborone, Botswana.
60 Dustin Reuther Entomophagy
Image 4
Photo courtesy of Eric Milis. Prepared dish of Imbrasia belina near Gaborone, Botswana.
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Image 5
Dried caterpillars being sold at a market in Livingstone, Zambia (Dustin Reuther)
62