i6 



Marvels of Insect Life. 



reason being that meat and salt are now so easily obtainable, and most of the 

 natives are in a position to buy them. On the other hand, Mr. W. L. Distant, 

 author of " The Naturalist in the Transvaal," informs the present writer that 

 he never heard of the natives eating this particular black and red species, noi 



does he think it likely that they 

 do so. 



Caterpillars of several kinds 

 are eaten by the African Bushmen, 

 the Australian Blackfellow, and 

 the Chinese. The latter also 

 utilize the chrvsalis of the silk- 

 worm after the silk has been 

 unwound from the coco'Mi. Indian 

 rearers of the Tussar silk-moth 

 make a similar use of the chrysa- 

 lids. More important as a food 

 is the white ant. Sparrman tells 

 us that the Hottentots eat them 

 boiled and raw, and Smeathman 

 savs that the Africans among 

 whom he explored parch them in 

 iron pots over a gentle lire, much 

 as coffee is roasted. In that 

 state the\- are delicious food ; and 

 they eat them b\' handfuls. He 

 thought them delicate, nourishing, 

 and wholesome, being sweeter 

 than the big grub of the palm 

 weevil,! .^j-,^| tasting like sugared 

 cream or sweet almoml paste. 

 The palm wee\il grub, the gru- 

 gru of the West Indies, is also 

 eaten on the Amazons, according 

 to Wallace. In Nyassaland they 

 make a ]xiste of a species of 

 mayfly- and gnats, and cat il 

 under the name of " kungu." 



Crubs of beetles otlier tlian 

 the ])alni we<'\il such as the 

 rhinoceros-beetle and the cockchafer— are also eaten; and in the wilder parts 

 of India the natives are not content with the honey from <he comb of the large 

 jungle bee,=^ but they also eat the grubs and chrysalids they iind in the cells. 

 Other people eat ants of various species. Kirby and Spence tell us that they 



Photo by] 



,11. Maw, F.E.S. 



Pai.m Weevil. 



The large fat grub of this beetle, whicli feeds internally in palm-trees an( 

 is known in the West Indies as the grn-gru, is eaten there and also in Brazil 



' Khyncophoriis ])alni:irum. 



2 Cscnis kiin<-'U. 



^ Apis dorsata. 



