Insects as Food

[LoLeL]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entomophagy#Advantages

[Aldaris]

Entomophagy in humans is probably an example of reasoning prevailing over instincts (unique human feature), as we're hardwired by evolution to be repulsed by most arthropods - since they're often carriers of diseases, it has always been an evolutionary advantage. It is interesting, how precise the evolution of behavioral immune system was in this case - it doesn't activate in case of crucateans, which are pretty much harmless to us, although there's barely any phenotypical difference between them and remaining arthropods.

[♥ Lily ♥]

I used to keep and maintain mealworm farms and managed to breed thousands to feed to birds. I read that they're also a good source of protein for humans too.

I've eaten large edible scorpions in the past and edible ants, although I've never tried mealworms.

I found that scorpions and ants had little flavour though and I didn't like their prickly texture. I bought the specially treated edible scorpions and ants in the luxurious West London department stores of Fortnum & Mason and Selfridges after I read that they're beneficial to eat. They were expensive though.

Angelina Jolie has said in interviews in the past that she's also eaten insects as a form of protein.

I had to stop breeding mealworms due to allergy problems when sifting through the insect waste/frass when replacing their bedding (pronounced as 'friss'... insect waste,) despite wearing goggles and a mask and opening the windows. It made me cough and wheeze, my skin and eyes itch, and often caused my nose to run and my throat to itch.... due to the very fine dust-like particles in the air when sifting through the frass.

I kept the mealworms, darkling beetles, eggs, etc, in four different massive containers.... and it was very time-consuming having to sieve and clean and replace the bedding and food frequently, and carefully separating the mealworm larvae, pupae, beetles and tiny eggs each week, in order to stop the beetles from consuming some of the eggs, pupae, and mealworm larvae.

The bird food suppliers that I used to order live mealworms from would often be out-of-stock, and the RSPB recommended people to breed their own due to a reported shortage of mealworms last year.

After 18 months of breeding thousands of beetles and mealworms, I stopped as it was too much hassle and it was causing a lot of burning chest pain and breathing problems whenever I had to change their bedding.

I also stopped ordering waxworms and live mealworms to be delivered to my home, because delivery men gave me some strange looks when they saw 'Warning: Handle With Care - Live Biological Material Contained Inside' labels attached to the packages they wanted me to sign for... and also because they're expensive to buy and inconvenient to maintain as you have to keep changing their bedding and food, adjust the humidity and temperature in the room, etc.

Waxworms (moth larvae) are much easier to maintain than mealworms and they're even richer in protein than mealworms (darkling beetle larvae,) and both live mealworms and live waxworms are appreciated by birds, but waxworms are a lot more expensive to buy. Some wild birds get so excited whenever they see you holding live mealworms or live waxworms in your hand, that they'll fly over and eat them out of the palm of your hand. They're like a speciality and expensive treat for garden birds like robins, blue tits, great tits, blackbirds, etc, who absolutely love them and eat them all fast.

Some students have reported that they carefully breed mealworms and make profits from selling them to people who like to feed birds, or to people who keep reptiles as pets.

I buy large bags of dried dead mealworms instead now as they're easy to store, require no maintenance, and can be soaked overnight to soften them before feeding them to young birds. I haven't bothered with buying many dried mealworms this year as the insect population has increased due to the global heatwave.... so the birds have plenty of insect food available in the wild. They come in handy for birds during the winter season though.

Dried mealworms smell aromatic whenever they're being soaked in freshly boiled water and left overnight to cool, but I've never tried eating one, despite reading several articles in the past that they may be used in the future as a source of protein for humans whenever livestock diminishes.

[Congolese Rice]

[Bobby Martnen]

Sure, you could eat insects, but unless you were really desperate, why would you?

[Congolese Rice]

Sure, you could eat insects, but unless you were really desperate, why would you?

i agree with this bobby my man. I would never eat a insect, even if i had to, i'd rather die tbh

[Bobby Martnen]

i agree with this bobby my man. I would never eat a insect, even if i had to, i'd rather die tbh

I know in some places they do, but it seems gross to me.

Apparently Moslems feel this way about pork products.

[Congolese Rice]

I know in some places they do, but it seems gross to me.

Apparently Moslems feel this way about pork products.

Looool, jup, i dont wanna eat insects. If they fly even 4 inch away from me i will activate my murder mode and i will swing my slippers till they die lmao

[Iloko]

i've always wanted to try chocolate covered insects lol

[♥ Lily ♥]

i've always wanted to try chocolate covered insects lol

I've tried chocolate covered ants and also scorpions inside transparent lollipops. They're specially farmed and treated before being sold as food to the public. I bought a very small and minute bottle of alcohol once from the very historic and quintessential English store of Fortnum & Mason in London, and there was a dead scorpion placed inside the tiny bottle of alcohol solution. I don't usually drink alcohol, but the label stated that it was detoxifying, so I'd take a few tiny sips whenever I had a headache, and it seemed to help. I licked the lollipops and ate the scorpions inside in tiny little nibbles... I didn't think much of it to be honest. (It didn't taste bad or unpleasant... but it didn't have an 'mmmm, that tastes delicious' effect either.) I didn't like the prickly texture though and they lacked flavour. I was going though an adventurous phase and wanted to try them after reading about all their health benefits... but I don't think I'd eat them again.