THK CICADA AS AN AKTKM.K OK 1<()()|). 10,'^ 
Orient, which lias \)cc'[\ an article of (li(>t IVoin the earliest liino. and 
IS so (nnployed at the |)I"(\s(MiI (la\ . in \ari()us places in iiortliein 
Africa and (nisIcmmi Asia. A similar locust is also now hiirlilN esteemed 
as a food article in \\\o island of Mada<j:ascar. All of these locusts 
belonjj^, however, to the (dass of inscM'ts knoANii as ;j:i-assho|)i)eis. and 
on this contiiUMit the l\o(d\y Mountain ij:i':i'^'^ho|)|)er oi' locust has also, 
as is W(dl known. \)cou lon^ uscmI as an a!'ti(de of food l)\- cei'tain 
Indian tribes. 
That the Cicada was eaten by the I'cd men of AmcM-ica, both before 
and aftei" the cominix of th(> colonists, is indicated in a memorandum, 
(hited 171"), l(d"t by the livv. Andreas Sandel, of Philadelphia, who, 
referring to the us(^ of locnsts as food in (>astei-n Asia, states also 
that the Cicada is so used by the Indians. Dr. Asa Kit( h corroborates 
this statement, giving as his authority Mr. W. S. Kol)ertson. who 
informs him ''that the Indians make the difTerent s])ecies of Cicada 
an article of diet, every year gathering quantities of them and \)vv- 
paring them for the table by roasting in a hot oven, stirrini: them 
until they are well browned." 
No ])ractical test was made with the Cicada as an article of human 
food until the experiments instituted by Professor Riley and cai i ied 
out by Doctor Howard in the early summer of 1885. T\w follow ing 
is an account of Doctor Howard's experiments: 
^^'i^ll the aid of the Doctor's (Riley's) cook he had prepared a i)lain stew, a tliick 
milk stew, aiul a broil. The Cicadae were collected just as they emerged Iroiu i)up8e, 
and were thrown into cold water, in which they remained overnight. Tin y were 
cooked the next morning, and served at breakfast time. They imparled a disiiiut 
and not unpleasant flavor to the stew, but were not at all palatable thcinsc lv( s, as 
they were reduced to nothing but bits of flabby skin. The broil laek( d substance. 
The most i)alatable method of cooking is to fry in batter, when they remind one of 
shrimps. They will never prove a delicacy." 
Mi\ T. A. Keleher, w ho sampled some of the dishes above (hvscribed, 
has infoiiiKMl the wiiter that he found the cicadas fried in batter to 
be most j)alatal)le, and tliat he mn(di preferred them to oysters or 
shrimps. 
The great liking manifested by vaiious animals for the j)ui)ce before 
and after they have emerged and for the transforming adults has 
already been referred to. Doctor Hildreth, wTiting in 1830, says: 
W'ldb- here ihey served for food for all of the cairii\(ii(ius and iuscet-catiiig animals. 
Hogs eat them in preference to any other food; s(iiiiircls, l)ir<ls, domestic fowls, etc., 
fatten on them. So much werc^ thoy attracted by ibe ('icadjiB that very few birds 
were seen around our <:ardeiis diiriut,' their ((iiii inuaiHc and our cherries, etc., 
remained unmolested.'^ 
«Proc. Ent. 8oc. Washington, V<.1. 1. p. i'!). 
fc Journal <.f S.ieiice. IS'M). Vol. .Will, p. 47, 
