144 Rev. F. W. Hope's Observations respecting 



insects are large, and contain a quantity of oil, resembling in 

 taste a sweet nut ; they are sought after as a luscious and fatten- 

 ing food, and from various accounts, these bugong moths appear 

 to be more prized by the Australian than any sort of food what- 

 ever. 



Hymenoptera. 



It is reported of the inhabitants of Cumana that, along with 

 other insects, they were accustomed to eat bees. Knox asserts, 

 in his history of Ceylon, that they are also eaten in that island ; 

 and from the description of the latter writer, the bees in question 

 probably belonged to the genera Xylocopa or Bombus. Among 

 the social insects we also find bees and ants, which at times have 

 afforded food and sustenance to man ; and the above writer tells 

 us, " When the natives meet with any swarms of bees hanging on 

 trees, they hold torches under them to make them drop, and so 

 catch them and carry them home ; they boil and eat them, esteem- 

 ing them excellent food." — Vid. Knox's Ceylon, 1817. 



Apis Mellifica. 



Dr. Halley, in the " Miscellanea Curiosa," informs us, that the 

 Moors esteem honey a wholesome breakfast, and he adds, *' and 

 the most delicious is that which is in the comb, with the young 

 bees in it, before they come out of their cases, whilst they still 

 look milk white, and resemble (being taken out) gentles such as 

 fishers use ; these I have often eat of, but they seemed insipid 

 to ray palate, and sometimes I found they gave me the heart- 

 burn." The above author elsewhere speaks also of Moors eating 

 the young bees as an usual custom. — Vid. Philosop. Trans, and 

 Miscell. Curiosa, vol. iii. page S82. 



Ants. 



Pinto makes mention of a sect of people who were accustomed 

 to eat ants of various kinds. Piso gives us the names of two 

 species inhabiting South America, which are in great request 

 there, and the latter authority is corroborated by the celebrated 

 Humboldt. Mr. Consett, in his Travels in Sweden, asserts, that 

 in that country, " ants are distilled along with rye, in order to 

 give a flavour to the spirits in use among tlie people, and there 

 can be little doubt that formic acid is likely to be found far less 

 injurious than the vitriolic acid, with which the gin of this country 

 is so copiously adulterated." Another authority is Caldcleugh, 



