INSECTS AS FOOD. 
277 
“An insect called the Twinpo (literally insect found in pits or 
hollows) is found in Twinywa, a village about 8 miles west of Budalin, 
situated in a large depression presumably caused by volcanic eruption. 
The long slender specimens without wings (Fig. 155), are the young 
insects : the oval shaped ones with wings are the fully developed insects 
(Fig. 155). They live and thrive in the waters of the lake in the middle 
of the depression. The waters of this lake are slightly salt and bitter. 
Among the developed insects, the male can be distinguished from the 
female by the circular extremities of its front legs. Besides the male is 
generally smaller than the female. The fully developed insects are 
seen only after a shower of rain, when the lake is simply agitated by 
their movements. This is a sign that breeding is going to take place; 
for soon after the shower the insects creep on to the land and remain 
embedded in the mud about three or four feet away from the water’s 
edge. Whilst remaining in the mud with their heads slightly exposed, 
they lay eggs from which the slender needle-shaped insects without 
wings are found, on the third day. The young insects make for the 
water as soon as they are formed, and after twenty days reappear still 
retaining their original slender form, but slightly larger in size. They 
are then of the same shape and size as the samples. As soon as 
these young insects appear they make for the land and remain 
entirely embedded in the earth at a distance of about fifteen feet from 
the water’s edge; the young insect remains hidden in the ground for 
ten days and after that period it emerges from the ground entirely 
transformed—instead of the needle-shaped insect devoid of wings, there 
appears from the ground an oval-shaped insect, possessed of a pair of 
wings. The insect returns to the lake as soon as it is fully 
developed. 
“The fully developed insects are caught at the water’s edge when 
they are creeping up the land to the mud. The undeveloped slender 
ones are caught at the edge of the water when they creep up to the land 
to go through the process of transformation. The insect is eaten in 
both forms and is considered a delicacy by the Bur man.’ ’ 
Termite queens are also eaten in some places in India as in Africa, 
and we can imagine no more dainty or tempting morsel than such an 
insect, which is most carefully fed and tended and which presents a most 
pleasing appearance. In some parts of South India, every boy of an 
age of 12 to 14 is said to be given a termite que n to eat, after which he 
runs a distance of two or more miles; having once done this he will be 
able thereafter to endure fatigue and run well. The large fat grubs 
of Oryctes are also eaten, and probably many other similar insects. It 
is said to be a common practice among tribes in the wilder parts of India 
to eat the larvae and pupoe of the big jungle bee, Apis dorsata, found in 
the combs. So also rearers of wild silk such as tassar (Anthercea paphia) 
are known to regard the pupae in the cocoon as a delicacy and to eat it 
when the silk has been reeled off. 
