278 
COLEOPTERA. 
These are all the instances we have been able to gather in India; 
notable cases elsewhere are the egg masses of Notonecta in Mexico, and 
the Grugru worm of the West Indies; we can vouch for the excellence 
of the latter, which are the larvse of the Palm Weevil, Rhynchophorus 
palmarum; these are eaten raw or cooked. Eaton records that in 
Nyassaland, a paste of Mayflies and Culicidce is eaten under the name 
of “Kungu.” The Mayfly is Ccenis kungu, Etn. (Monogr. Rec. Ephem., 
p. 148). A species of Elmis (Parnidce) is used as a relish in Peru 
according to Philippi (Stett. Ent. Zeit., 1864, p. 93). 
The reader should consult Wallace’s article “On the Insects used 
as food by the Indians of the Amazon” (Trans. Ent. Soc., London, 
1854, p. 241). He mentions five insects belonging to distinct orders 
which are used as food; the female of an ant called Sauba (Atta cepha- 
lotes, Latr.) is captured “ in basketfuls ” when it swarms out of the 
nests; Wallace remarks “ it is rather a singular sight to see for the first 
time an Indian taking his breakfast in the Sauba season. He opens the 
basket and as the great winged ants crawl slowly out, he picks them up 
carefully and transfers them with alternate handfuls of farina (Cassava 
meal) to his mouth.” The worker of a termite (Termes flavicolle, 
Perty) is eaten on account of the mass of muscle in the head and thorax, 
a Homopterous insect (Umbonia spinosa) is eaten roasted, as well as 
the grub of the Palm Weevil (Rhynchophorus palmarum ) ; finally Wal¬ 
lace’s last paragraph is worth quoting entire, as it might quite correctly 
have been written in some parts of India. “ The apterous insect which 
is eaten by the South American Indians, more, I presume, as a delicacy 
than as an article of food, is a species of Pediculus which inhabits the 
head of that variety of mankind. The method of capturing and de¬ 
vouring this insect is exactly the same as that which everyone has seen 
adopted by the monkeys at the gardens of the Zoological Society. 
A couple of Indian belles will often devote a spare half hour to Entomo¬ 
logical researches in each other’s glossy tresses, every capture being 
immediately transferred to the mouth of the operator.” 
The following extract from Cuvier’s Natural History refers to the 
Migratory Locust ( Schistocerca peregrinum) : — 
“Some people of Arabia and of some other countries of the East, 
take them in great quantities, have them dried, ground and made 
into a sort of bread, when their crops have failed. At Bagdad, they 
are brought to market and by this means the price of other provisions is 
said to be considerably lowered. According to report, the locusts have 
something of the flavour of a pigeon. One man can easily despatch two 
hundred of them at a meal. The modes of cooking them are various. The 
Bedouins of Egypt roast them alive upon the coals, and eat them as a 
great delicacy, having first removed the wings and feet. They also 
remove, at least in some places, the intestines. The women and 
children of some parts of Arabia Felix, string them together, and thus 
sell them. The Arabs roast these insects and steep them in butter, 
