Thai ecologists fret over popularity of insects as food

Food-loving Thais are finding an ever-increasing number of insect species make tasty snacks, giving rise to fears over possible effects on the environment.

The Bangkok Post newspaper reported Sunday that initial research by the Agriculture Department has indicated that the growing taste for bugs could wreak havoc on the food chain and plant reproduction.

Until about a decade ago, only four insect species - mostly waterbugs and ants - were on record as being food, mostly in rural northern and northeastern Thailand.

But now, 11 more have been added to the diet, including several beetles, a small stink bug, a ground wasp, termites, rice grasshoppers and the migratory locust, the Post said.

Increasingly, urban dwellers have developed a taste for certain varieties. One kilogram of bamboo caterpillars, a whitish grub with a nutty taste, can command as much as 1,000 baht ($25), according to A-ngoon Lewvanich, one of the researchers, cited by the Post.

A turning point in bringing insects to the table was an infestation of locusts about a decade ago, the Post said. Farmers found an effective way of dealing with insects that ate their rice was to fry them up to a golden brown and eat them.

Wisuth Baimai, director of the biodiversity program sponsoring the study, told the Post that many of the popular insects are predators. If they disappear, Thailand could suffer a proliferation of pest insects. (AP)
Source: The Times of India. October 18, 1999