Packard.] 
EDIBLE INSECTS. 
123 
ewan river on the North to Texas. Mr. Scudcler states 
that “ a third, whether belonging to the same species or not 
is still uncertain, has invaded, at different times, nearly all 
the country lying within the boundaries of the United States 
between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean.” 
Dr. Lincecum thus describes the ravages of C. spretus 
in Texas: “ Last spring the young were hatched from the 
egg in the early days of March ; by the middle of the month 
they had destroyed half the vegetation, although the insects 
were wingless and not larger than a house-fly. The first 
winged specimens were seen high in the air at about three 
in the afternoon ; as a light northerly breeze sprang up, 
millions dropped to the earth, covering the ground in an 
hour, and destroying every green thing with avidity. Dur¬ 
ing the night they were quiet, but at daybreak commenced 
to eat, and continued until ten in the morning, when they 
all flew southward. At about three o’clock in the afternoon 
of the same day another swarm arrived, ten times as 
numerous as the first; these again took flight the following 
day ; and thus they continued, coming and going, day after 
day, devouring the foliage and depositing their eggs. At first 
they selected bare spots for this purpose, but finally the 
whole surface of the earth was so broken up by their borings 
that every inch of ground contained several patches of eggs. 
This visitation was spread over many hundreds of miles.” 
Of other insects eaten by man we may instance the hum¬ 
ble bee whose body is often sacrificed to the love of boys 
for sweets, who since Shakspeare’s time have searched for 
the “well bestratted bee’s sweet bag;” while in Ceylon 
bees are eaten bodily as food. Some kinds of ants are eaten 
by the Indians of the Gulf coast of Mexico. Sumichrast 
says (see our “Guide to the Stmty of Insects,” p. 187) that 
“the natives eat the females after having detached the tho¬ 
rax and Humboldt tells us that ants are eaten by the 
Indians of South America. Kirby speaks from his own 
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