VARIOUS INSECTS EATEN AS FOOD. 869 



to the genus Acridium in the modern sense. It occurs 

 also in Luzon and Timor, and is closely allied to our 

 European migratory locust {CEdvpoda migratoria). 



The natives endeavour to reduce them by devouring 

 the locusts themselves, for Mr. Jagor tells us, that when 

 a swarm, which was more than five hundred feet in 

 width, and about fifty feet in depth, arrived, whose 

 extremity was lost in the forest, old and young eagerly 

 endeavoured to catch as many of the delicat& creatures 

 as they could, with cloths, nets, and flags, in order, as 

 Dampier relates, " to roast them in an earthen pan over 

 a fire until their legs and wings drop off, and their heads 

 and backs* assume the colour of boiled crabs, after which 

 process," he says, "they had a pleasant taste." In 

 Burmah, at the present day, they are considered as deli- 

 cacies. In papers, published June, 1869, on Colonel 

 Fytches' mission to the Mandalay Parliament, we are 

 told — " After the king had withdrawn, sweetmeats were 

 brought, and also roasted locusts, which were pressed 

 upon the guests as great delicacies." 



In Mexico a species of ant (Myrmecocystus melUgerus) 

 has the translucid abdomen filled with a species, of 

 syrupy fluid which is eagerly sucked by children, and 

 commonly employed in cases of earache. These ants 

 are sold by dozens simply fastened in square pieces of 

 paper, from which they cannot escape, if they are 

 suspended. 



The larvas of ants are considered a great dainty in 

 China, resembling flesh in taste. A certain species of 

 red ant which makes its nests on tree tops are also eaten 

 with ginger and salt, used as a condiment. It is very 

 pungent. Termites, or white ants, as they are called, are 

 also used as food, acccording to Dr. Macgowan. 



Cameron, in his " Across Africa," mentions that dried 

 white ants are eaten by the natives with porridge as a 

 relish, on account of the scarcity of animal food. 



" The ants are caught in rather an ingenious manner. 

 A light framework of canes or twigs is built over a large 

 ant hill and covered with leaves cleverly fastened 



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