Insects that have afforded Food to Man. 137 



7. Locusta Cernensis, Hope. 



This species, which is apparently undescribed, is eaten by tlie 

 natives of Madagascar, and preferred by them to their finest fish. 

 Their method of dressing them is to strip off their legs and wings 

 and fry them in oil. I liave given it the name of L. Ceiiiensis, 

 derived from the ancient name of that island, which I prefer to 

 Madagascariensis, used by French writers. 



8. Locusta devastator, Lichtenstein, 



This destructive insect is mentioned by Lichtenstein as devas- 

 tating Southern Africa. They are greedily devoured by the Bos- 

 jesmans or Wood Hottentots, who, not content with catching them 

 by handsful, dig long and deep trenches, and capture them by 

 thousands. Adamson mentions, moreover, in his voyage that 

 various tribes of Africa eat locusts. — Vid. p. IGl. 



9. Locusta pupa, Linn. 



I have somewhere read(Rosenmiiller ?) that this species is eaten 

 occasionally, but do not recollect the reference. 



10. Locusta cristata, hum. 



Linnffius, in his "Systema Natura?," under the name of Locusta 

 cristata, mentions in a note that this species is eaten by the Arabs, 

 " Hie Arabicus esculentus est." 



There are different methods of preparing locusts. The Arabs 

 throw them on tlie fire, and when sufficiently fried, they pluck 

 off the legs and head, and eat the remainder. Some dry them 

 in ovens, and others grind them to powder in handmills, or 

 pound them in stone mortars ; the powder is then mixed with 

 water, and made into a cake, and baked as common bread. 

 Others, again, boil and eat them with salt. The taste is compared 

 to shrimps, and by RosenmiUler they are reported to be nearly the 

 same in flavour as the smoked Agaric eaten in Holstein. Ano- 

 ther authority for their peculiar flavour is "Joseph de S. Ange, do 

 Toulouse, dans son Gazoph. Pers. sous le titre Locusta, raconte 

 qu'en Arabie tout le monde (tutti quanti), pauvres et riches, man- 

 gent les sauterelles avec beancoup de I'appetit, et qu'en effet elles 

 sont bonnes (e che veramente sono buono), et ont le gout d'ecre- 

 visses. D'autres disent qu'elles ont ])hitot le gout dc liareng frais," 

 — Vid. Scheuchzer, vol. ii. p. 111. 



