MAN IN A WORLD OF INSECTS — DE LONG 427 



panies. At one of the regular meetings of the Columbus Entomolog- 

 ical Society in 1941 these larvae were served as refreshments and 

 some 75 persons partook of them upon this occasion. Other insects 

 used as human foods in Mexico are the eggs of certain aquatic Hemip- 

 tera, particularly Corixidae and Notonectidae, which are utilized for 

 the production of an edible meal known as "ahutle." In towns near 

 Lake Texcoco dried cakes containing these insects may be purchased 

 in the markets. 



Certain California Indians obtain in quantity from Mono Lake 

 and other highly alkaline and saline lakes a brine fly, Eplnjdra hians, 

 in the pupal stage, which is dried and furnishes a highly nutritious 

 food known as "koochabe." 



In the Old World, grasshoppers have been eaten by man for cen- 

 turies, native tribes commonly roasting them. In the Belgian Congo, 

 dried termites are sold in baskets at the native markets, and termite 

 queens are roasted or fried in fat. Termites are also eaten in the 

 oriental Tropics. Centain of the larvae of various large beetles are 

 also roasted, fried, or boiled by the natives of several of the tropical 

 countries. The Laos Indians of Siam feast upon both adults and 

 larvae of one of the dung beetles. Of the many specific types of 

 insects which have been utilized as food, one of the most curious is 

 the giant water bug, Lethocerus, which, being large in size, is steamed 

 and then picked like a lobster. 



/Silk production. — Fiber for cloth is also furnished by an insect. 

 The silkworm has for many years been considered the second most 

 commercially important beneficial member of the insect world. From 

 modified salivary glands it has furnished the raw materials for large 

 industries in both Asia and Europe, where caterpillars are reared 

 and raw silk is produced. This has been an especially important 

 industry of the Orient. 



The Chinese silkworm, Bomhyx mori, has been reared in quantity in 

 captivity for so many years that it is at present impossible for it to 

 exist without human care. This rearing involves extensive hand 

 labor, making silk a costly fiber. The industry is valued at millions 

 of dollars, but its existence is seriously threatened at present by the 

 manufacture of synthetic fibers which are rapidly and largely replac- 

 ing silk and by the growing trend toward the formation of democra- 

 cies in the Orient, under which conditions the high cost of labor will 

 make the price of silk prohibitive. 



Insects in medicine and. surgery. — Man has recognized the medical 

 value of certain insects and for some time has used their products as 

 therapeutic agents. Cantharidin has been produced from the bodies 

 of blister beetles and is used in the treatment of certain conditions of 

 the urogenital system. The importance of this drug was probably not 

 fully realized until World War II when shipments of insects for its 



