VI PREFACE. 



Even in civilized lands insects are utilized for food. Pat- 

 ting aside the cheese mites and " hoppers " with which we are 

 all familiar, we find the Mexicans employing a certain honey- 

 gathering ant for the purpose of making mead. In Europe 

 the common Wood Ant is much used in the manufacture of 

 vinegar, and in the South of France the same insect is pressed 

 into the service of the ]3astry-cook, being used to flavour a 

 certain sort of cream called " creme aux fourmis.'" 



By way" of retaliation, the voracious Mosquitos are tliemselves 

 eaten in some parts of the world. It is related by Livingstone, 

 that the insects swarm in such vast multitudes on tiie banks of 

 the Nyassa Lake, that they are gathered in bags and pressed 

 into circular cakes about an inch thick and seven or eight 

 inches in diameter. These cakes, called " kungo," somewhat 

 resemble caviare in flavour. 



Larvs, especially those of the larger beetles, form an im- 

 portant branch of food in many countries, and in some, as in 

 certain parts of Australia, are absolute necessities. Among 

 them may be mentioned the celebrated Gru-gru grub of the 

 West Indies. It is the wood-boring larva of a gigantic Weevil, 

 and when taken from the tree is held by the head and eaten 

 alive. However repulsive the notion may appear, it has been 

 found that when Europeans have once been induced to try the 

 Gru-gru, they have always held it as one of their best dainties. 



Perhaps the most curious article of insect-food is the egg of 

 one of the Mexican Water- boatmen (Corixa). 



These eggs are laid in countless numbers upon bundles of 

 reeds which are sunk for the purpose. In a fortnight the reeds 

 are covered with eggs, which are scraped off and made into 

 cakes under the name of " haoutle." 



Some of the insects are useful to man in a secondary manner 

 by producing articles which are almost necessary adjuncts to 

 civilization, such as the wax of the Bee, the irritant juices of 

 the Blister Beetle, the dye of the Cochineal, and the "lac" of 

 its near relative the Lac Insect. 



