Insects are like food. The delivery is still there: where did the palm weevil come from in Abkhazia. Weevil control with chemicals
The red palm weevil (Latin Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) destroys date palms like locust crops.
An adult red weevil reaches 2.5 cm. It has an elongated rostrum, from which it got its name. Usually rusty red with dark spots. The life span does not exceed four months. Each female lays 350 eggs about three to four times a year.
Larva of red palm weevil
Larva of red palm weevil 
Larva of red palm weevil in cocoon
Adult weevil hatched from cocoon
Spanish biologists have sounded the alarm because of the tricks of a foreign beetle. The red weevil penetrated from Polynesia to Catalonia in 2005 and managed to gnaw 2,821 palm trees. Mexicans are afraid to stay without date palms.
Palm treesdamagedpalm weevil.
The problems of the Spanish ecologists are a heavy burden on the budget of Catalonia. Back in 2007, experts warned the authorities about the appearance of a malicious pest on the peninsula - the red weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus. It feeds on the heartwood of palm trees and in a few years managed to destroy 2821 trees in Catalonia. Politicians have calculated that the destruction (most often burning) of one beetle-infected palm costs € 500, but some trees have to spend up to € 10 thousand, which is associated with the peculiarities of their root system and the surrounding area.
Environmentalists are afraid that the Canary beetle date palm may simply disappear from the Western Mediterranean, writes the Catalan edition of El Periodico.
The first case of weevil infection was registered in July 2005. Spanish scientists are sure that their pest originates from Southeast Asia and the Polynesian islands.
Previously, panic over this bug broke out in ministries agriculture Cyprus and Malta. The authorities blamed the introduction of the weevil on construction firms that imported materials from Egypt and Israel.
In French Corsica, Rhynchophorus ferrugineus appeared in 2006. The massive loss of palm trees has led the European Union to impose strict restrictions on palm imports.
In the UAE, dogs were taught to fight weevils. They act like the woodpecker. Sheepdogs and Labradors sniff out the pest and report it to people.
The disaster also reached the New World. The authorities in Mexico City have to cut down entire alleys to save the rest of the palm trees and get rid of the noxious red weevil. According to the Mexican newspaper El Sol de San Luis, the government managed to stop the invasion of Rhynchophorus ferrugineus several years ago, but the beetle entered the country again. Experts say he crossed the ocean in imported dates.
In September 2014, on the territory of Sochi on the Canary date, imported in 2013 from Italy, was found red palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineusOliv . (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is a dangerous quarantine phytophage that is a pest of palms (according to literature data, both sugarcane and bananas, and in this regard, it is a dangerous agricultural pest in the countries cultivating these crops).
Natural range - tropical regions of Southeast Asia: the islands of Polynesia, Vietnam, New Guinea, Indonesia, Cambodia, etc.
In the 1980s and 90s. the species spread to the Middle East and North Africa. Due to the construction boom and active landscaping in 2005 Rhynchophorus ferrugineus was brought to Spain, Italy, French Corsica, Cyprus, noted in Israel, and in 2009-2010. was discovered in Mexico, USA and Japan - about. Curacao. Since 2007, the European Union has adopted restriction on the import of palm trees in view of the invasion of this phytophage with introduced plant material.
The invasion of this phytophage is exclusively anthropogenic. - as a result of the export of planting material, vegetable fruit products. I must say that the view Rhynchophorus ferrugineusin view of morphological characteristics and evolutionary genetic factors, it has a weak flying ability, can settle within a radius not exceeding 5 km, leads a hidden lifestyle. It should also be noted that the species is characterized by diapause in the imago phase.
The main signs by which you can determine damage by the red palm weevil:
Drying of the central rosette in the palm tree, discoloration of the leaves;
Lowering leaves, the crown of the palm tree has a roof-like appearance;
The presence of flight holes in the trunks of palm trees up to 3 cm in diameter;
Breaking off the trunks of palm trees;
Detection of larvae, cocoons, pest beetles inside the trunks.
bug red palm weevil - one of the largest members of the family - body length 35-50 mm. The body of the beetles is oblong, slightly flattened from above, the elytra are rigid, from light ocher to rusty brown in color with dark spots on the back. Sexual dimorphism is poorly developed: females are somewhat larger than males, with a longer rostrum and more convex elytra, while males have a longitudinal “mane” of red hairs on the upper side of the rostrum. The head of the weevils is extended into a rostrum, the main purpose of which is to gnaw through a canal in plants and wood for feeding and pushing laid eggs into this canal.
Larva red palm weevil large, up to 5 cm, legless, C-shaped, whitish-cream color with a brown head, consisting of a head shield with powerful gnawing mandibles. Interesting fact: Large fleshy larvae of palm weevils are eaten by local populations in Africa and Southeast Asia.
Cocoon up to 5 cm long, made of palm fibers, brown, is usually found in the petioles of palm leaves. Pupae of weevils are shaped like beetles with weakly expressed rudiments of wings, legs and rostrum.
Red palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus refers to monovoltine species, that is, it has one generation per year. Life cycle monovoltine insects, as a rule, coincide with the annual development cycle of feeding plants, however, diapausing individuals can increase the duration up to two years or more. The egg phase lasts up to 7 days, larvae - 3-4 months, pupae 14-21 days. One female lays an average of 150-180 eggs (maximum 350) on the top of the palms as close to the growth point as possible. ( It should be remembered that the growth point of the palm tree is approximately 50 cm below the visible end point of the trunk !!! ) The hatched larvae penetrate into the trunk and feed on plant tissues there, almost completely destroying the core and destroying the growth point of the palm tree. Damage is almost invisible until the palm is dead.
Control measures for red palm weevil:
Administrative: restriction of the import of planting material of palm trees from European nurseries and careful phytosanitary control of newly imported plants.
Mechanical: collection and destruction of all stages of the pest (burning). Destruction of the affected plant.
Of chemicals during the growing season from March to December at an air temperature above +17 0 С it is necessary to treat palms with insecticides based on imidacloprid (confidor, golden spark, commander) at the rate of 40 ml per 10 liters of water or on the basis of chlorpyrifos (dursban, sairen) based on 80 ml for 10 liters of water. Carry out processing at the rate of 10 liters of working fluid per plant.
Palm trees are an integral part of the garden-pack landscapes of the city of Sochi. Currently, the red palm weevil has been found only in a few places, on palms brought from nurseries in southern Italy. Weevils were not found on old palms growing in Sochi parks.
Nevertheless, the pest can settle and lead to the death of not only the Canary date, but also other types of palm trees: the bud (Chinese fan palm), hamerops (European fan palm), washingtonia, butiy, jubey, sabal and others.
Karpun Natalya Nikolaevna - deputy. Director for Science, Cand. biol. sciences, associate professor.
It is becoming more and more difficult to feed humanity. We may soon be left with no choice but to start eating insects. A couple of years ago, experts already spoke at the UN in support of this initiative. The massive transition to a new diet will improve not only the environment, but also human health, because insects are an excellent source of healthy proteins. Look At Me invites you to get acquainted with those bugs and worms that may soon be on our plates.
Grasshopper baked goods
In 2013, a group of students from McGill University (Montreal) received the prestigious Hult Prize and $ 1 million for developing grasshopper flour to help fight hunger. The bidders were to organize "a social enterprise capable of providing food to undernourished communities, in particular the 200 million people living in urban slums." As a result, the students did not think of anything better than to breed grasshoppers in the poor regions of Mexico, Thailand and Kenya, which will later turn into flour for baking and other products. According to the proposed technology, insects must first be dried and then frozen in sealed bags, then rinsed, dried again and ground into powder. As a result, the new power supply will not only be available all year round, but also inexpensive. The pledged capital of $ 1 million will help them launch this program.
Larvae of peacock eyes
The dried moth caterpillars Gonimbrasia belina have always been an important source of protein for South Africans. Collecting these caterpillars is a common economic activity of Africans, and in the future, probably ours. Today, dried, smoked or pickled caterpillars are sold in supermarkets and markets, and they cost four times more than traditional meat. To prepare the caterpillars for use, they are first cleaned of entrails, either by simply squeezing in the hands, or by cutting lengthwise. They are then eaten raw or boiled in salted water and dried in the sun. They do not have a particularly strong taste and, according to those who have tasted them, they look like dried tofu or tea leaves. Therefore, they are often served with fried onions or used in soups, sauces and cereals.
Silkworm larvae
What Australians call witchetti larvae are known among entomologists as the gypsy moth larvae. They have always been the traditional food of the local Aborigines who roasted them over coals or over an open fire. When cooked, the larvae taste like nuts with the taste of scrambled eggs and soft mozzarella, wrapped in puff pastry... But the gourmets most accustomed to consuming larvae eat them alive.
In Asia, silkworm larvae are also popular, only the other is mulberry. Caterpillars that feed exclusively on mulberry leaves are considered a delicacy in Vietnam and China, they are endowed with mass useful properties... Insects feature prominently in Korean cuisine, making the popular ppondegi, a dish consisting of steamed or spiced larvae. In Japan, silkworm larvae are served in the form of tsukudani, that is, boiled with seaweed in a marinade of soy sauce, sake, mirin and sugar. In the Indian state of Assam, boiled pupae are eaten with salt or fried with chili and herbs and eaten as a snack.
The silkworm has even been suggested as a possible alternative to the traditional diet of astronauts. Chinese researchers said that insects can be a real salvation during long space travels, calculated for several years. Miniature ecosystems in which larvae will grow and develop can become an almost inexhaustible source of animal protein.
Ants
Ants are found all over the planet - from the Arctic to the tropics. They are dried in the sun, smoked, and soared. For example, in poor rural areas of Thailand, spicy rice is often cooked with carpenter ants fried in oil. Ants are very popular in Colombia, where local farmers sell them live and cooked on trays for about $ 6 per kg. In Cambodia and Laos, red forest ants are widely eaten, which are sold even cheaper in local markets - about $ 1 per kg.
Indians living in the Amazon Basin prefer to eat winged females. They are caught in baskets as they fly out of their nests in huge swarms, and their fried bellies are said to taste like fried bacon. Australian aborigines eat honey-collecting ants, which live underground to a depth of 2 m, but have a sweet taste. In Mexico, escamoles ant pupae are considered a delicacy and can be found on the menus of city restaurants. They are usually served fried without any additions or cooked with garlic and onions.
Termites
Termites (they are not relatives of ants, although they look like them) widely distributed in African countries, especially in those adjacent to the Sahara Desert. All representatives of the colony are eaten, including eggs and females, the largest of which can reach the size of a potato tuber. Termites are also prepared to resemble butter. To do this, they are boiled and the floating fat is collected from the surface, after which it is used to prepare other dishes.
Palm weevil
Red palm weevil larvae have long been a part of traditional Southeast Asian cuisine, where they are deep-fried for a few minutes and served with salt and a little white pepper. These larvae are also eaten raw, because they have a creamy taste, and when boiled, they are meaty, close to bacon. They are often cooked in palm flour. In New Guinea, they are fried on a spit on special holidays.
The palm weevil is a fairly large insect, with some individuals reaching 8 cm in length. These insects are malicious pests that gnaw holes in the trunks of palm trees and kill plants.
"Stinky bugs"
Woody bush bugs (or in common people stink bugs) in many countries in South Africa, they are eaten as a snack, but before that they are soaked in warm water to get rid of an unnecessarily harsh aroma. In South America (where the local species of bush bugs are eaten) they, on the contrary, are appreciated for their aroma, therefore they are added to food as a seasoning: they make sauces, fried and add to tacos and pates. They are also prized for their bright smell in Vietnam, where they cook spicy roasts, and in Laos, where these insects are ground with spices and herbs into a paste called chio.
Mealworms
Beetle larvae (or flour beetle) - one of the few insects that are used in the Western world, for example, in the Netherlands. The nutritional value of mealworms is difficult to overestimate, in addition, they are rich in copper, sodium, potassium, iron, zinc and selenium. The Dutch scientist Arnold van Hewis, one of the main promoters of the mealworm diet, together with a local school of cooks, even published a whole cookbook with recipes from these insects: in it you can find rolls, baskets and other dishes made from larvae.
Everyone can now grow the food of the future. The project, developed by Tiny Farms, allows you to create a personal farm with everything you need to start growing edible beetle larvae at home. The set consists of two main containers, a mounting frame, a selection kit and an incubator. The company offers either to purchase a ready-to-use farm, or to make it yourself according to the drawings, which are freely available.
Saria Kvaratskhelia, Sputnik
In Abkhazia, new foci of plant infection by the palm weevil have been discovered. This time, the "dirty trick" got to the park of the Prince of Oldenburg in Gagra, green areas of two boarding houses in the Gagra district and a park near the Ministry of Repatriation in Sukhum.
The head of the laboratory of entomology and invasive species of the Institute of Ecology of the Academy of Sciences of Abkhazia, Mikhail Kiriya, told Sputnik that several palm trees had already died in two Gagra boarding houses. So far, one affected tree has been identified in Oldenburgsky Park. In Sukhum, on the territory of the Ministry of Repatriation, one adult palm tree was completely destroyed and two more new ones were affected. Environmentalists recommended cutting down and burning the plantations attacked by the pest in the near future. Otherwise, the larvae can move to other trees.
The Institute of Ecology itself is not engaged in liquidation.
“We have been studying this issue for several years now, we have developed methods for the preventive treatment of affected palms. We can provide some kind of advisory methodological assistance to all interested parties. However, these activities are not included in the institute’s responsibility perimeter. This is the responsibility of either city or district administrations or the owners of the objects, on whose territories pests were found, "explains the head of the laboratory Mikhail Kiriya.
The district authorities need to carry out prevention.
"There are already specific places of infection. But this is associated with certain material costs. Insecticides are quite expensive and, of course, human resources are needed to carry out these works," the scientist explains.
Where do they come from
There were no problems with the palm weevil in Abkhazia five years ago. The pest was first discovered in the republic in 2016. His appetite is excellent. Dozens of palms have already fallen prey to the fat larva.
The researcher does not exclude that the palm weevil is imported along with the planting material.
"The likelihood that the palm weevil is imported together with imported plants is high. Because the focus of world distribution, in particular in Europe, is very high. Including in Russia, the weevil appeared because of the planting material that was imported from Europe. There is a high there is a risk that palm weevil larvae may be present in the planting material imported from other countries, "noted Mikhail Kiriya.
On the territory of the Ministry of Repatriation, where the pest was found, landscaping was carried out by the Ashta landscape group, which has been working in Abkhazia since 2005.
“When the Ministry of Repatriation approached us about landscaping, we were told that grown old palms were falling for no reason at all. We then asked them to conduct an environmental audit. Then we planted the material that we had for two years. Our palms were periodically cultivated, we looked after them as it should be, cut off the branches. If they were infected with something, you could see it after pruning. When you cut a leaf, if holes are found, then the palm is infected. But no holes there was no ", - said the director of" Ashta "Asida Agrba.
The signal that a weevil was found on one mature palm and two new plantings came a few days ago. The director believes that it is a little late and, nevertheless, there is hope for the healing of the plants.
“And we accordingly turned to the relevant structures, in particular the Institute of Ecology, which through us and learned about the problem. Of course, we are in favor of saving the palm tree, if possible. We have already carried out a full treatment. We need to treat it on time. into hibernation, and there is no point in processing. Processing must be carried out every 20 days from May to June. If we have worked somewhere, planted plants, then we keep control, we have a calendar, we go periodically and treat, "explains Asida Agrba.
Weevil filter
Entrepreneurs bring planting material to Abkhazia from Europe. They go to the purchases personally and carefully select the plants.
“We signed a contract with one of the European nurseries and began to cooperate. We import first-class goods, we select them on the spot, we personally go, we choose very scrupulously. That is, we do not say:“ You put a couple of bricks for us there. ”After that they are hung on special tags are stored and sent to us. Many people say that during the landscaping of Sochi before the Olympics, along with the planting material, many pests were brought in. I don’t know where the plants were taken from in Sochi, but the nursery we cooperate with is very serious. we were taught to work. The director himself walks with us, selects. They have the concept of phytodoctor ", - says Agrba about the process.
Plants, before entering the republic, are treated with special insecticides, after which the phytodoctor gives a certificate - a guarantee that the product is disinfected.
"This is healthy capitalism. Having received a certificate, the car leaves, everything is carefully checked at the border with the European Union, and we get another certificate. And we get another certificate, now from our quarantine inspection, which periodically checks us. We have one Our products are not sold anywhere else. We process the plants twice a month, "explains the director of the landscape group.
After the product arrives in Abkhazia, it goes through two more phytosanitary treatments according to European methods. This is done as a safety net so that the plants do not catch the infection already in Abkhazia.
"You can't imagine how many insects flock to our products here. Because everything around is infected. We treat our plants and cultivate the area around, but we are not able to handle everything in the republic. The problems in Abkhazia are very serious and this happens because of for uncontrolled private import from both borders. And first of all from Georgia. It is not known what is being brought here. Recently, social networks were noisy why Russia banned the import of fruits and vegetables from Abkhazia. Because they have a quarantine service. The state protects itself. But We must do the same. We are not an ownerless state. Well, close your borders, control the import. And you will not have this disgrace. We ourselves have initiated several times the strengthening of quarantine and the termination of uncontrolled import, "said Asida Agrba ...
Small checks
In order to check the presence of illegally transported planting material, the Sputnik correspondent visited the Gudauta and Sukhumi markets. In Gudauta, the saleswoman said that everything is brought from Krasnodar, and there the planting material comes from Holland. Her words are confirmed by a stamp with a barcode on a plastic bag. We read the tag with a smartphone - the manufacturer's website opens in Holland.
© Sputnik
When asked where else you can find planting material, the saleswoman replies: "You need to visit the market from time to time. Sometimes people come who sell palm trees and others on the streets. exotic plants".
This time it was not possible to find illegally imported planting material in Sukhum either.
According to the head of the State Plant Quarantine Inspectorate of Abkhazia, Arkady Jindzhia, the quarantine service carefully checks all imported products.
"I heard that the palm weevil could have been brought along with imported products. In order to check whether this is so, I gave an order to check the plants again at the places where the seedlings are sold. If plants were imported through Georgia, our inspectors would see This is exactly what concerns the palm plantations. There has never been such a case. Maybe somehow from some other place where our inspectors are not available, "suggested Arkady Djindzhia.
What to do?
Despite the fact that a small journalistic check did not reveal the source of the infection, the problem with the palm weevil is becoming more and more urgent. Scientists and entrepreneurs see one of the solutions in the total processing of all palm trees in Abkhazia.
"It is necessary to process all the seedlings that are brought into Abkhazia not just from the outside, but completely from the inside to impregnate the plant itself in order to prevent further development larvae. But it is impossible to process everything. There are no such funds, "added the scientist Mikhail Kiriya.
Experts' forecasts are disappointing. If the problem is not stopped now, then soon Abkhazia may be left without palm trees.
Thai cuisine is very diverse and exotic. You can buy a ready-made insect dish in Thailand everywhere. This is one of the highlights. Fried grasshoppers and other exotic delicacies for us are sold on the streets straight from the stalls. In addition to the notorious grasshoppers, here you can buy interesting and exotic insect dishes - buns with silkworm larvae, crickets in chocolate, and more.
Europeans who have tasted insect dishes say the taste is not so bad. In general, the entire Thai (and not only) nation falls under the definition of entomophagy - the phenomenon of eating insects. In many Asian countries, there are entire kitchens for cooking insects. In fact, insects are eaten in more than a hundred countries around the world. This is not surprising.
A person is born omnivore, but few are ready to take it to heart and eat it, for example, with bugs or crickets. Meanwhile, insects are eaten all over the world: they have more protein than chicken meat, they are full of iron, magnesium and other important elements, finally, it is just delicious. 
Insects are highly nutritious, contain almost no fat and are also a source of high amounts of protein. Among other things, insects contain trace elements useful for us and even vitamins. So in the field cricket contains 20.72% protein, in the Indian locust - 25.88%. Gold beetles and dragonfly larvae are a storehouse of minerals, especially phosphorus and calcium. It is not surprising that insects are recommended for consumption by the world's nutritionists. And the energy component of an insect meal is in no way inferior to a meal of ordinary meat.
In total, there are 1462 species of edible insects in the world, and it is unlikely that all of them can be tried in a lifetime. True, thanks to the Internet, in order to eat this or that insect, now it is not necessary to go to Thailand, Uganda or New Guinea: Companies that sell insects online are growing.
We will try to tell you about the recipes of the most delicious, according to tourists' reviews, exotic insect dishes, which are a real highlight of food in Thailand.
Crickets in chocolate
About twenty crickets are put to sleep (!) In the freezer, after which the hind limbs are removed, and the insects are laid out on a baking sheet. Dry insects in the oven for at least 1-2 hours at a temperature of 250 degrees. At this time, melt several bars of chocolate on the fire, then dip the crickets in the melted chocolate one by one, and lay them out on paper. The dish is ready after the chocolate has set. You need to eat such a dish with caution, fried crickets emit a specific sound, and they click a little when chewed.
Fried bamboo worms
For Thais, a plate of fried bamboo worms in oil is as traditional a way to start a meal as a salad or soup is for Europeans. Their taste and texture are somewhat reminiscent of popcorn, although they do not have any special pronounced taste, but they are very nutritious.
In fact, these are not worms at all, but the larvae of the grass moth from the family of grass moths (Crambidae) living in bamboo. They are traditionally harvested by cutting bamboo stems, but more recently they have been commercialized on farms and packaged in bags like chips.
Bizarre Food products can, for example, be bought in England. Besides Thailand, bamboo worms are eaten with pleasure in China and the Amazon.
Shish kebab of barbel beetle larvae
Longhorn beetles, large and shiny beetles with long antennae, are widespread throughout the world, and there are many of them in Russia. We also call them lumberjack beetles, in the English-speaking world - capricorn beetles.
The longhorn beetle larvae found in the roots of sago palms are a very popular village food in eastern Indonesia. For the sake of fatty and juicy larvae, Indonesians sometimes nullify small palm groves, and then, carefully stringing them on rods, fry the larvae over the fire. They have a tender flesh, but a very dense skin that needs to be chewed for a long time. The larvae taste like fatty bacon.
The larvae have one more application: the villagers use them as a brush for the ears - a live larva is thrust into the ear, holding it by the tail with its fingers, and it quickly eats away the ear wax.
Earthworm cutlets
The recipe for this insect dish is simple. To begin with, the worms are boiled in boiling water. After they are crushed with a blender and added to the mass of lemon zest, salt, baked milk and white pepper. Everything is thoroughly mixed. Beat an egg with salt in a separate bowl. Minced worm meat is dipped in an egg, after breadcrumbs and goes to a preheated frying pan. Such cutlets are fried for ten minutes, without fail on each side. Before serving, they are seasoned with sour cream.
Another tasty insect dish is caramelized grasshoppers. Before pouring the grasshoppers into caramel, they are fried in a cauldron with oat flakes.
Cheese with cheese fly larvae
In Sardinia, casu marzu is considered an aphrodisiac and is traditionally eaten with worms. Moreover, it is believed that casu marzu is safe to eat only while the larvae are alive. It is not easy to do this: disturbed larvae, reaching a centimeter in length, can jump out of the cheese to a height of 15 cm - many cases have been described when they got into the eye of someone who tried the cheese. Therefore, lovers of casu marzu often eat this cheese with glasses or, spreading it on bread, cover the sandwich with their hand. However, it is not considered a crime to remove larvae from cheese. The easiest way is to put a piece of cheese or a sandwich in a paper bag and close it tightly: the panting larvae begin to jump out. When the shooting in the bag stops, the cheese can be eaten.
Of course, casu marzu does not meet any hygienic standards of the European Union and was banned for a long time (it could only be bought on the black market at a price twice the price of a regular pecorino). But in 2010, casu marzu was declared a cultural heritage of Sardinia and allowed again. In Thailand, this unusual insect dish is also very common.
Pizza with rhinoceros beetle larvae
The dough is taken out of the refrigerator. The base of the pizza is a sauce made from ketchup and mayonnaise. Top with tomatoes, peppers, onions and cheese. The fried rhino beetle larvae are laid out on top. They are seasoned with pepper and herbs. The pizza is baked in a preheated oven at 180 degrees.
Dried mopane caterpillars with onions
The dried caterpillars of the moth Gonimbrasia belina, a South African species of peacock eyes that live on mopane trees, are a major source of protein for South Africans. Collecting these caterpillars in Africa is quite a serious business: in supermarkets and markets you can find both dried and smoked by hand, and pickled caterpillars rolled in cans.
To cook a caterpillar, you first need to squeeze out its green intestines (usually the caterpillars are simply squeezed in the hand, less often they are cut lengthwise, like a pea pod), and then boiled in salted water and dried.
Sun-dried or smoked caterpillars are very nutritious, weigh almost nothing and have a long shelf life, but do not have a special taste (most often they are compared to dried tofu or even dry wood). Therefore, they are usually fried until crisp with onions, added to stews, stewed in different sauces, or served with sadza corn porridge.
However, very often mopane is also eaten raw, whole or, as in Botswana, after having torn off the head. They taste like tea leaves. Caterpillars are collected by hand, usually women and children are engaged in this. And if they belong to anyone in the forest, then collecting caterpillars on neighboring trees is considered bad form. In Zimbabwe, women even mark trees with their caterpillars or carry young caterpillars closer to home, setting up peculiar plantations.
Mealworms with vegetables and rice
At this time, flour worms are sautéed in a separate frying pan with oil. During the roasting process, they slightly increase in size. After roasting, the worms are seasoned with salt and pepper and mixed with rice and vegetables. The mixture goes on fire for another five minutes. The dish is served hot and garnished with freshly cut herbs.
Boiled wasps
The older generation of Japanese people still respect wasps and bees prepared by the most different ways... One of these dishes - hatinoco - is a bee larvae boiled with soy sauce and sugar: a translucent, sweetish caramel-like mass that goes well with rice. Wasps are cooked in the same way - the dish with them is called jibatinoko. For older Japanese people, this dish reminds of the post-war years and the rationing system, when wasps and bees were eaten especially actively in Japan. It is in steady demand in Tokyo restaurants, even if it is a nostalgic attraction.
In general, hatinoko and jibatinoko are considered a rather rare specialty of Nagano Prefecture. Fried black wasps are slightly more common: they are sometimes served with beer in Japanese taverns. Another specialty, rice crackers with earth wasps, is made in the village of Omati. These are small cookies with adult wasps stuck in there - each has from 5 to 15 wasps.
Japanese dishes made from wild wasps and bees are not cheap: it is impossible to put this business on stream, the preparation itself is rather laborious. Wasp and bee hunters tie long colored threads to adults and thus track their nests. However, in Japanese stores you can also find canned bees - usually in this way beekeeping farms sell surplus.
Silkworm fried with ginger
However, delicate larvae, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, are successfully combined with almost any vegetables and spices. When properly cooked, they taste like crab or shrimp.
Silkworm larvae are no less popular in Korea. Trays of beondegi, boiled maggots with spices, or steamed maggots are found throughout the country. And in stores, canned silkworms are sold, which must be boiled before use. They are also loved in Japan, especially in Nagato, and Japanese astrophysicist Masamichi Yamashita even proposes to include silkworms in the diet of future colonists of Mars.
Cookies with crickets and chocolate chips
Such cookies are decorated with the same crickets slightly drowned in the dough. Cookies are baked for 15 minutes at a temperature of 180 degrees. This unpretentious insect dish can also be offered to you in Thailand right on the street from merchants.
Fried ants
In Colombia, fried ants are even sold in theaters instead of popcorn. Most of all in Colombia they love female ants with eggs. They are caught on rainy days, when the water floods the anthills and the females get out.
In the simplest rustic version, they are prepared by wrapping them in leaves and holding them for a while over the fire. It is a crispy, sweet snack with a distinct nutty flavor.
But the most delicious ants, the so-called "honey", are found in Australia. They feed on sweet nectar, carrying it in the swollen goiter of the abdomen (in Russian literature they are called "ant barrels"). These transparent bubbles are considered a sweet delicacy among Australian aborigines. In addition, two genera of honey ants are found in South Africa and the semi-deserts of North America.
Deep-fried water bugs
The Asian variety, Lethocerus indicus, is the largest in the family at 12cm in length, so Thais simply deep-fry them and serve them with plum sauce. The meat of water bugs tastes like shrimp.
At the same time, in Thailand they are eaten whole, in the Philippines, legs and wings are torn off (and in this form they are served with strong drinks as a snack), and in Vietnam they make a very fragrant extract from them, which is added to soups and sauces. One drop is enough for a bowl of soup.
Grasshoppers with avocado
Like any small roasted insect, the roasted grasshopper does not have a prominent aroma and usually tastes like the oil and spices in which it was fried. The grasshoppers traded by street vendors in Southeast Asia, including Thailand, are simply overcooked chitinous shells.
In general, grasshoppers are eaten wherever insects are eaten. Grasshoppers boiled in salt water and dried in the sun are eaten in the Middle East, in China they are strung on skewers like kebabs, and in Uganda and the surrounding regions they are added to soups. Curiously, in Uganda, until recently, women were not allowed to eat grasshoppers - it was believed that then they give birth to children with deformed, like grasshopper heads.
Dragonflies in coconut milk
Captured large dragonflies, which are pre-cut off the wings, are either quickly fried on the grill, or boiled in coconut milk with ginger and garlic. Dragonflies are also made into something like candy by frying them in coconut oil and sprinkling with sugar.
Mealworm Ice Cream
Boil for 5 minutes, then pass through a fine sieve and keep on low heat until the mixture hardens. After removing from heat, pour in a tablespoon lemon juice and chill in the refrigerator.
Bed bugs with chicken pate
In contrast, the Mexican species of bugbear is prized for its strong, medicinal odor - probably due to its high iodine content. American TV presenter Andrew Zimmern, who ate shit bugs in an episode of his television series Bizarre Foods, compares their taste to tutti-frutti chewing gum.
In Mexico, sauces are made from bedbugs, added to tacos, or, having fried, mixed with chicken pate.
For their strong smell, bush bugs are also prized in Vietnam, where they are cooked into a spicy dish, and in Laos, where bugs are ground into cheo paste with spices and herbs.
Charcoal baked tarantulas
Large tarantulas, up to 28 cm in diameter, are eaten in Venezuela, simply baked over coals. A slightly more elegant way of cooking tarantulas is used in Japan: there, first, the abdomen of a spider is torn off, then the hairs are singed and quickly fried in tempura.
However, it is believed that the most delicious spiders are not tarantulas, but spiders from the Nephilidae family, which are eaten in New Guinea and Laos. These spiders taste like peanut butter when fried.
A special treat is the grasshopper lollipops. They are put in a special mold and poured with hot caramel. And the worms, before being dipped in honey, are sent to graze in a pan with oatmeal. Those who have strong enough nerves to taste the dishes say that all this is very tasty.
Bon Appetit! 🙂
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