Gloworm 10
The Gloworm
1 December 1999
Volume 7: no. 10
I do not know whether I was a man dreaming --Chuang Tse One of the shortest poems ever written was about insects: "Ugh-Bugh!" - D. K. McEvan. Kevan I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I send among you. -- Joel 2:25 To make a prairie it takes a clover and a bee, -- Emily Dickenson God in his wisdom made the fly -- Odgen Nash From Treasury of Mother Goose Rhymes Like train cars on tracks of plush Withstands until the sweet assault His feet are shod with gauze, His labor is a chant, -- Emily Dickinson Houseflies find sugar with their feet, which are 10 million times more sensitive than human tongues. Approximately 2,000 silkworm cocoons are needed to produce one pound of silk. While gathering food, a bee may fly up to 60 miles in one day. Ants can lift and carry more than fifty times their own weight. Mexican Jumping Beans, sometimes sold commercially, actually have a caterpillar of a bean moth inside. It takes about one hundred Monarch Butterflies to weigh an ounce. Bug Facts prepared by the Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, in cooperation with the Public Inquiry Mail Service, Smithsonian Institution Information Sheet Number 177
I was a butterfly,
or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming
I was a man.
One clover, and a bee,
And revery.
The revery alone will do,
If bees are few.
And then forgot to tell us why.
A horse and a flea and three blind mice
Met each other while skating on ice.
The horse he slipped and fell on the flea.
The flea said, "Oops, there's a horse on me!"
I hear the level bee:
A jar across the flower goes,
Their velvet masonry
Their chivalry consumes,
While he, victorious, tilts away
To vanquish other blooms.
His helmet is of gold;
His breast, a single onyx
With chrysoprase, inlaid.
His idleness a tune;
Oh, for a bee's experience
Of clovers and of noon.
Food Defect Action Levels (FDAL's) for a few common foods (such as hot dogs, flour, noodles, etc., some examples are listed below). Convert these values into pounds per package bought in a grocery store, e. g. per 5 pound bag of flour, 12-ounce can, etc.
Apple butter 5 insects per 100g Berries 4 larvae per 500g OR 10 whole insects per 500g Ground paprika 75 insect fragments per 25g Chocolate 80 microscopic insect fragments per 100g Canned sweet corn 2 - 3mm-length larvae, cast skins or fragments Cornmeal 1 insect per 50g Canned mushrooms 20 maggots per 100g Peanut butter 60 fragments per 100g (136 per lb) Tomato paste, pizza, and other sauces 30 eggs per 100g OR 2 maggots per 100g Wheat flour 75 insect fragments per 50g
Source: The Food Defect Action Levels: Current Levels for Natural or Unavoidable Defects for Human Use that Present No Health Hazard. Department of Health & Human Services 1989.
Now that we have shown you that you do eat and probably like insects, let's share some Holiday recipes. Dry-roasted insects can be included in most any recipe that could include nuts, such as cookies, breads, brownies, Rice Krispie Treats (a.k.a. Crispy Critter Krispies), etc. These can usually be found in most GOOD grocery stores!
Ingredients: Directions: Mix together all ingredients. Bake in greased loaf pan at 350 for about 1 hour. Ingredients: White cornmeal In a large skillet or wok, heat the oil. Then lightly fry the hornworms, about 4 minutes, taking care not to rupture the cuticles of each insect under high heat. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Season tomato rounds with salt and pepper, then coat with cornmeal on both sides. In a large skillet, fry tomatoes until lightly browned on both sides . Top each round with 2 fried tomato hornworms. Garnish the paired hornworms with a single basil leaf.
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
2 bananas, mashed
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts
2 eggs
1/4-cup dry-roasted army worms - 4 servings
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 16 tomato hornworms
- medium green tomatoes, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Bee Essay Contest - The 2000 Bee Essay contest deadline has passed. Plan ahead, get started in June next year. Entry deadline was December 1.
- 2000 Entomology Camp - The 2000 Entomology Camp is scheduled for June 4-9, 2000 on campus at Mississippi State. Begin making plans to attend camp this year Öit'll be different, but we'll still have ample time to collect insects and build collections.
- State 4-H Club Congress - State 4-H Club Congress will be June 13-15. This year's Congress is also shaping up to be different. We'll have the Linnaean Games on the afternoon of the 14th.
Names are given here, but they are scrambled: Honey bees, Tiger beetle, Lace wing, Lady beetle (adult), Lady beetle (larvae), Syrphid (larvae), Colorado potato beetle, Assasin bug, Big-eyed bug.
We've been working to get some things on the net, so if you are computer able, check http://www.ext.msstate.edu/anr/entpath/4-h/. I think you'll like what you see there. We will continue to add new pictures and text to these pages. We're also open to suggestions.
We have been blessed this year with many great experiencesÖ. May 2000 hold the same for us all! Have a great end of 1999 and we'll see you in 2000!
Happy Bugging!
Dr. Michael R. Williams
Entomology & Plant Pathology
Box 9775
Mississippi State, MS 39762-9775
phone - 601-325-2085
home - 601-323-5699
FAX - 601-325-8837