How to Identify Edible Insects
Insects have become a trendy food because they are eco-friendly and exotic. Unlike other meat animals such as cows and chickens, insects don't release significant amounts of gases that harm the environment. Although eating insects is a relatively new trend in the United States, it has been a popular tradition in other countries such as Thailand for some time. June beetles, crickets and cicada are three edible kinds of insects. Crickets are said to taste earthly and have 12.9 grams of protein per serving, while June beetles have over 13 grams per serving. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Cicadas
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Go out around midnight to look for the edible cicada larvae. Periodical cicadas will emerge from the dirt between mid April and early May. They can be found on the ground or clinging to a surface preparing to molt.
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Look for an insect with a very rotund body. The cicada larvae will have a short, wide body that is about an inch in length.
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See if the insect is whitish in color. When cicadas emerge from the ground, they have very little color.
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Check the insect's legs to make sure they are very thin in comparison to the body. Although cicadas have large, rounded bodies, they have quite thin legs.
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Look at the face of the insect. Cicada's have broad faces with large, bulbous eyes spaced far apart.
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Make sure the insect doesn't have wings. If the cicada has wings, it means that it has already molted and is now in the adult phase. Adult cicadas are less commonly eaten because they have a harder texture.
Field Crickets
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Listen for a chirping sound. Male crickets make a very distinctive chirping noise that can help you identify them easily.
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Look at the size of the insect. When full grown, field crickets will usually be between 1/2 inch and 1 1/8 inches long.
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See if the insect has two long back legs that protrude from the body and two antennae that are even longer than the body.
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Make sure there are a pair of wings that lie flat against the insect's back.
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Look at the color of the insect. A field cricket is usually black but can also exhibit a range of colors between straw yellow and brownish yellow.
June Beetles
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Look for this variety of scarab beetle at night in the spring. They are often called June bugs, or May beetles, because they are most common in the months of May and June. You can usually find them around lights, as they are drawn to them in the dark.
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See how large the beetle is. June beetles will usually be between 1/2 and 5/8 inch long as adults. They are stout in body shape.
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Look for spiny legs, as June beetles have tiny spikes on their legs.
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Make sure that the beetle is a reddish shade of brown on the top.
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Turn the beetle over to look at its underside. June bugs have cream-colored hairs on their abdomens, and the lower part of their abdomen is a lighter shade of reddish-brown than their back.
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Tips & Warnings
Not all insects are edible. In fact, some are quite poisonous. Never eat an insect that you haven't identified as edible.
References
Resources
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