It would hardly be suspected that bees serve for food in Ceylon and
some other places,--an ungrateful return for their honey and wax.
The African Bushmen eat the caterpillars of the butterflies.
The Chinese, who waste nothing, after they have unwound the silk from
the cocoons of the silk-worm, send the chrysalis to table. They also
eat the larvæ of a hawk-moth, some of which tribe, Dr. Darwin tells us,
are, in his opinion, very delicious. The natives of New Holland eat
the caterpillars of a species of moth, and also a kind of butterfly,
which they call _bugong_, which congregate in certain districts,
at particular seasons, in countless myriads. On these occasions,
the native blacks assemble from far and near to collect them; and
after removing the wings and down, by stirring them on the ground,
previously heated by a large fire, winnowing them, eat the bodies, or
store them up for use, by pounding and smoking them. The bodies of
these butterflies abound in an oil, with the taste of nuts; when first
eaten, they produce violent vomitings and other debilitating effects;
but these go off after a few days, and the natives then thrive and
fatten exceedingly on this diet, for which they have to contend with a
black crow, which is also attracted by the butterflies, and which they
dispatch with their clubs, and use as food.
Two insects, a kind of butterfly, and a thick, white grub, found
chiefly in dead timber, are much esteemed by the aborigines of
Australia as articles of food. The former is eaten at certain seasons
by whole tribes of natives in the northern districts. Their practice
is to follow up the flight of the insects, and to light fires at
night-fall beneath the trees in which they have roosted. The smoke
brings the butterflies down, and their bodies are pounded together into
a sort of fleshy loaf. Upon this delicacy the natives not only feed,
but fatten. The white grub is swallowed whole in his living state, and
is much sought for by sable epicures.
In India, and in South America, these grubs are also eaten as a dainty.
The trunk of the grass-tree, or black-boy (_Xanthorea arborea_), when
beginning to decay, furnishes large quantities of marrow-like grubs,
which are considered a delicacy by the aborigines in Western Australia.
They have a fragrant, aromatic flavour, and form a favourite food among
the natives, either raw or roasted. They call them _bardi_--and they
are also found in the wattle tree, or mimosa. The presence of these
grubs in a _xanthorea_ is thus ascertained: if the top of one of these
trees is observed to be dead, and it contain any bardi, a few sharp
kicks given to it with the foot will cause it to crack and shake, when
it is pushed over and the grub extracted, by breaking the tree to
pieces with a hammer. The bardi of the _xanthorea_ are small, and found
together in great numbers; those of the wattle are cream coloured, as
long and thick as a man’s finger, and are found singly. The excrement
of the latter oozes from under the bark, of the appearance and
consistence of clear gum. The galls formed on several species of sage
by gall flies, in the Levant, are highly prized for their aromatic and
acid flavour, especially when prepared with sugar. They constitute, in
fact, a considerable article of commerce from Scio to Constantinople,
where they are regularly sold in the market. They are known as sage
apples, and in Greece are made into a kind of conserve, which is highly
esteemed.