Chapter
21
As treated here, this region is
bounded on the west by
Regional Taxonomic Inventory
Taxa and stages consumed Countries
Coleoptera
Curculionidae (weevils, snout beetles)
Larinus mellificus Jekel, cocoon
Larinus onopordi Fabr., cocoon
Larinus rudicollis Petri, cocoon
Larinus syriacus Gyll., cocoon
Tenebrionidae (darkling beetles)
Blaps sp., adult
Pimelia sp., adult
Tenebrio sp., adult
Homoptera
Aphididae (aphids)
Aphid
species, honeydew
Cicadellidae (leafhoppers)
Euscelis decoratus Hpt., honeydew
Opsius jucundus Leth., honeydew
Pseudococcidae (soft scale insects)
Naiacoccus serpentinus Green, honeydew
Trabutina mannipara (Ehrenberg), honeydew
Trabutina sp., honeydew
Psyllidae (psyllids)
Chermes sp., honeydew
Hymenoptera
Cynipidae (gall wasps)
Aulacidea levantina Hed., galls
Orthoptera
Acrididae (short-horned grasshoppers)
Cyrtacanthacris septemfasciata (Serville), adult
Schistocerca gregaria (Forskal), adult Pan-regional
There are many accounts of the use
of locusts as food in this region, especially in the
Coleoptera
Curculionidae (weevils, snout beetles)
Larinus mellificus Jekel (= nidificans
Cap.), cocoons
Larinus onopordi Fabr. (= maculatus),
cocoons
Larinus syriacus Chevrolat, cocoons
Bodenheimer
(1951, pp. 224-225) discusses the
trehela cocoons of Larinus
weevils which are applied by popular medicine and by physicians throughout the
Aphididae (aphids)
Bodenheimer
discusses (pp. 22-23) the Kurdish manna produced in
Pseudococcidae (mealybugs)
Naiacoccus (= Najacoccus) serpentinus Green, sweet secretion
Trabutina sp., sweet
secretion
Bodenheimer (1951, p. 221) identifies
Hardwick's location as on "the Irano‑Baluchi border," and the
insect studied by Hardwick as a psyllid larva. Bodenheimer continues: "In
Psyllidae (psyllids)
Chermes sp., sweet
secretion from larva
Hardwick (1822 [1980], pp. 182‑186)
describes the nymph of a species of Chermes,
to which he attributes secretion of a saccharine substance known as Gez or Manna,
thus confirming a similar earlier conclusion by the French entomologist,
Geoffroy. Hardwick states his intention to name the insect "Chermis‑Mannifer" when the
adult becomes known, mentioning also that it appears to resemble Chermes alni. Hardwick states that the manna is found
"in pieces of various shapes; some flat, as taken off the leaves of the
tree; sometimes in cylindrical pieces, impressed with the figure of the stalk
or branch on which it has fallen."
A letter from a Mr. Hunter is quoted, in part, as follows:
These insects are found on the branches and leaves of trees, on which they swarm in millions, and work and generate this feather like substance, till it gets long, and drops on the leaves, caking on them, and resembling the most beautiful white bees wax; this hardens on the leaf, and takes the complete form of it, which you can strip off, bearing the very impression and imitation of the leaf itself, which no art could exceed.... I have seen a great deal of it about these hills, and much might be collected, I should suppose, were it desirable; there are no inhabitants however about here.
Hardwick
mentions that the manna has been found in Persia (Iran) and Armenia. Hunter's location was southwest of Husainabad
(India?).
Orthoptera
Acrididae (short-horned grasshoppers)
Bodenheimer (1951: 212) cites Le
Chevalier Chardin (in l7ll) who reported observing locusts in late March near
Bender Abbas in southern Iran. Bodenheimer summarizes his account as follows:
"...the sky appeared to be obscured by clouds owing to the locust swarms
flying 60 to 70 feet high, and wherever these swarms passed an enormous
quantity of locusts fell to the ground; big, red insects, so heavy that they
could not rise again. The peasants catch them as they drop. At that season
similar clouds passed almost every evening, and the locusts are caught, dried
and salted, but also eaten raw. They are sold on the markets of S. Iran as a
common food."
IRAQ,
ISRAEL, SYRIA, THE SINAI
Forbes (1813 [1834], I, pp. 31‑32) states:
I am surprised that commentators on the scriptures have perplexed themselves about the food of John the Baptist in the wilderness; which we are informed consisted of locusts and wild honey; and for which the cassia‑fistula, or locust tree, and many other substitutes have been mentioned; but it is well known that locusts are an article of food in Persia and Arabia, at the present day; they are fried until their wings and legs fall off, and in that state are sold in the markets, and eaten with rice and dates, sometimes flavoured with salt and spices: and the wild honey is found in the clefts of the rocks in Judea, as abundantly as in the caves of Hindostan.
Bodenheimer (1951, p. 212), citing the 1813 edition of
Forbes, states that his Acridites lineola,
which is the species commonly sold in the markets of Baghdad, is, in fact, Schistocerca gregaria.
Forbes (p. 32) continues:
We
often read in Scripture of the butter of kine, the milk of sheep, and the fat
of the kidneys of wheat; with the pure blood of the grape, and honey out of the
rock: 'He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat, and with the
honey out of the stony rock would I have satisfied thee.' Psalm lxxxi, v. 16.
There can be as little doubt what that honey was, as of the wild honey on which
the Baptist fed in the wilderness; some of the greatest delicacies in India are
now made from the rolong‑flour, which is called the heart, or kidney of
the wheat: and most probably the brooks of honey and butter, mentioned by
Zophar, in the book of Job, were the liquid honey from the wild bees; and the
clarified butter, or ghee, used throughout Hindostan, which pours like oil out
of the duppers, or immense leather bottles in which it is transported, as an
article of commerce; and is every where preferred by the natives to butter not
so prepared.
The word kosher, derived from Jewish
ritual, though used in many contexts, has retained its original connection to
Biblical dietary laws (Isman and Cohen 1995). The dietary laws are stated intially in
Leviticus XI, with verses 20-23 referring specifically to insects. According to Isman and Cohen, the notion that
the rationale for the dietary restrictions is rooted in ancient hygiene and
health regulations is a common misconception that has no basis at all in the
biblical text. The dietary laws were
more spiritually based, part of the Israelites' obsession with discovering the
line separating the divine from the profane aspects of things.
The authors summarize the
characteristics of land animals and sea creatures that may or may not be eaten,
then review, in detail, the various scholarly interpretations of the verses
pertaining to insects. Biblical scholars
have generally deemed these verses to mean that locusts, grasshoppers, crickets
and possibly other closely related orthopterans are fit for consumption, while
other insects are excluded. In addition
to structural characteristics, ecology may be a factor in the acceptability of
orthopterans, especially acridians. The
authors note that acceptable mammals are all ungulates, feeding predominantly
on grasses. Predatory land animals,
including specific birds that are predaceous or feeders on carrion, are
excluded. The orthopterans, and
especially the acridians, which are primarily graminivorous may have been
viewed by the biblical legislators as analogous to the acceptable land animals.
The authors conclude: "The
dietary laws pertaining to insects are not merely of historical interest, but
are still of concern today. Many
observant Jews at present shun broccoli, believing that the tight clusters of
florets cannot be cleaned of insects with certainty. Rather than risk impurity, they avoid this
vegetable."
Coleoptera
Curculionidae (weevils, snout beetles)
Larinus mellificus (Jekel) (= nidificans Guibourt),
cocoon
Larinus onopordi Fabr. (= maculatus
Faldermann), cocoon
Larinus rudicollis Petri, cocoon
Larinus syriacus Chevrolat), cocoon
Guibourt (1858, p. 276; vide
Pierce 1915) states that the cocoon of the trehalose‑containing weevil, Larinus nidificans Guibourt, is used for
food in the Orient as commonly as salep and tapioca are used in France. His
material probably originated in Syria. Berthelot
(1858, pp. 1276‑1279; vide
Pierce 1915) found the chemistry of trehalose to be analogous with cane sugar,
with the formula C12H22O11.
Hanbury (1859, pp. 178‑183)
refers to the earlier literature on "trehala" or "tricala,"
citing the early Persian names for it (Shakir‑elma‑ascher) and
stating that the first reference to the substance was by Ange in his "Pharmacopoea
Persica" in 1681. Hanbury (vide Pierce 1915) described the cocoons of Larinus maculatus Faldermann, a species
occurring widely around the Mediterranean and as far east as Iran as ovoid or
globular and about 3/4 of an inch long. Their inner surface is composed of a
smooth, hard, dusky layer, external to which is a thick, rough, tuberculated
coating of a greyish‑white color and earthy appearance. They are found on
the stems of Echinops and
sometimes contain spiny portions of the leaves. The cocoons were imported into
Lahore from Hindustan (India) and were abundant in the shops of the Jewish drug‑dealers
in Constantinople (Istanbul), where Arab and Turkish physicians considered them
of value in treating respiratory diseases. Hanbury also notes the production of
a saccharine substance resembling dark honey made by the punctures of L. nidificans (= mellificus Jekel).
Apparently, the adult in puncturing Echinops
causes a flow of honey, and the larva after feeding to maturity constructs a
saccharine cocoon.
Gervais and
van Beneden (1859, pp. 311‑313;
vide Pierce 1915) described the uses of trehala and how the decoction is
prepared for use against respiratory problems, especially bronchial catarrh. A
liter of boiling water is poured over about 15 grams of cocoons, this being
then stirred for about 15 minutes, and then boiled. It is drunk by the patient
without being filtered. The species they referred to was Larinus syriacus Chevrolat, found on Onopordon in the desert between Aleppo and
Baghdad. The cocoons must be collected before the weevils emerge.
Capiomont and Leprieur (1874,
p. 65; vide Pierce 1915) describe the taste of the L. nidificans cocoon as sweet, and state that it swells in
water but does not completely dissolve even after long boiling. It contains 66%
of a substance similar to sago (a tasteless carbohydrate, C24H42O21),
a small amount of gum and inorganic mineral matter, and 28% of the trehalose
sugar. The authors cite the occurrence of this species in Syria and Iran, and
state that it is used as a decoction against bronchial catarrh and as a food
like tapioca.
Pierce (1915), after reviewing previous literature
on Larinus and trehalose, states
that the genus is confined to feeding on Compositae related to the
thistle. The larvae usually feed at the
base of the flower head and then construct a cocoon. According to Pierce, the cocoon is made by
abdomenal excretion, and the larva diminishes considerably in size during its
construction.
Bodenheimer (1951, p.225) mentions
that cocoons of Larinus rudicollis
Petri are found in Israel. He also refers to an earlier publication
(Bodenheimer 1935, pp. 247, 249) in which he mentioned buying cocoons of Larinus onopordi Fabr. in the bazaar in
Baghdad. This species is widely distributed "from Turkestan to the
Mediterranean shore."
Homoptera
Kaiser (1924, 1930; vide
Bodenheimer 1951, p. 221) discovered minor manna secretions on the shrubs of Haloxylon and Artemisia in the Sinai, but was not able to find the insects
responsible for them.
Aphididae (aphids)
Aphid
spp. honeydew
Cicadellidae (leafhoppers)
Euscelis decoratus (author?), sweet manna excretion
Opsius jucundus (author?), sweet
manna excretion
Pseudococcidae (mealybugs)
Naiacoccus (= Najacoccus) serpentinus Green, sweet manna excretion
Trabutina mannipara (Ehrenburg), sweet manna excretion
Manna
production by the various insect groups
Bodenheimer (1929) identified two
small "cicadas," Euscelis
decoratus Hpt. and Opsius
jucundus Leth. (Jassidae), as additional manna producers on tamarisk
(pp. 75 ff.; vide Bodenheimer 1951, p. 221).
Bodenheimer (1929; vide Leibowitz 1943) identified the manna of the
Sinai desert as the excretion of the scale insects, Trabutina mannipara and Najacoccus
serpintinus, on the leaves of Tamarix
mannifera. Leibowitz (1943) analyzed scale manna supplied by Prof. Bodenheimer from
northern Iraq, noting that, "The Bedouin gather this sweet product from
leaves of trees and bushes, and use it as a sugar substitute in coffee."
The sugar fraction was found to consist mainly of the rare disaccharide
trehalose. Two samples contained 30% and 45% of trehalose, respectively,
calculated on the basis of total dry matter, and 70% and 80%, respectively,
calculated on the total carbohydrate content. The remaining carbohydrate
consisted of sucrose and invert sugar containing an excess of glucose.
Bodenheimer (1947) argues that the
manna of Biblical history (Exodus 16 and Numbers 11) was the excretion of two
species of scale insects, Trabutina
mannipara Ehrenberg and Najacoccus
serpentinus Green. First, he gives strong biological evidence
against the widely held view that the lichen, Lecanora
esculenta, was identical with the manna. Then he says:
The
record of the oldest local traditions of Sinai comes from Flavius Josephus and
the early monks of the St. Catherine monastery. These reports link the manna
with the tamarisk thickets in the wadis of the Central Sinai mountains. Here
year after year in June appears a granular type of sweet manna from pinhead to
pea size. It appears on the tender twigs of tamarisk bushes for a period of
three to six weeks. The quantity of this manna fluctuates according to the
winter rainfall. The crop may fail entirely in one wadi and at the same time be
plenteous in others. Certain wadis such as Wadi Nasib and the Wadi esh‑Sheikh
are especially famous for their manna production. Usually the annual crop does
not exceed several kilograms, but one steady man may collect over a kilogram a
day at the peak of the season. This certainly does not allow for the 'bread' or
daily food of the wandering Israelites. However, we must note that lechem does not have an original meaning
of bread, but of food in general. Otherwise, it could not have come to mean
'meat' in Arabic. All in all, the nutritive value of these few kilograms of
manna could not have been important enough to deserve a recording in Israel's
history. There must have been a special quality to justify its inclusion in the
chronicle. The special quality was its sweetness.
Bodenheimer
says that sweetness is the highest "culinaric dream" of the nomad in
the desert, and, therefore, "the sudden discovery of a source of pure and
attractive sweetness would have been an exciting event."
According to Bodenheimer, all of the
statements about manna in the early formations of Scripture agree with the
biological observations; it was the later commentaries that produced
divergences. He says:
We
begin with the criteria of space and time. The location of the manna excretion
which is given in the older codes as beginning at Elim (near Wadi Gharandel)
and ending at Rephidim (the oasis Feiran), agrees well with the northern limits
of the manna excretion in our day. Manna was first discovered on the 15th day
of the second month after the Exodus from Egypt. This would be the middle or
end of Siwan, which is late May or early June. This date agrees with the
natural season of manna production. The description of manna in the Bible,
which likens it to small, light brown cummin seeds and to the stickiness of
bdellion resin, is a remarkably suitable description of the tamarisk manna. In
the Bible its taste is described as like that of sappihith bidhvash, which easily may refer to the
crystalized grains so often found on the surface of honey. Exodus 16:14 and
Numbers 11:9 state that the manna fell from heaven during the night. Actually,
most of the dropping of manna, or at least its accumulation on the soil, occurs
at night when the ants are not collecting it.... All those manna grains which
drop from late afternoon to early morning remain until the beginning of ant
ativity in the morning. Then, however, they are speedily collected and carried
away.
Accordinq to Bodenheimer, T. mannipara is the manna producer in the
mountains, N. serpentinus in the
lowlands. The manna, of course, is the well‑known "honeydew"
excretion of many aphids and scale insects, and the drops, which are excreted
mainly by the larvae and immature females, evaporate quickly to sticky solids
in the dry air of the desert. "Man" is the common Arabic name for aphids,
and "man es‑simma" (the manna of heaven) for honeydew. A number
of small cicadas found in Sinai, southern Iraq, and Iran are locally called
"man," and they produce small quantities of a product similar to
manna which is used as a delicacy and as an ingredient in popular medicines.
Bodenheimer states that: "The most famous manna product of the Middle East
is the Kurdish manna which is collected by the thousands of kilograms every
year in June and July. It is used for the preparation of special confections
which are sold in the streets of Baghdad and elsewhere under the name of 'man.'
This manna is also produced all over the general Kurdistan region in the
extensive oak forest by a still undetermined aphid."
Bodenheimer (1951, pp. 217‑225)
discusses Middle East mannas in general, incorporating information from his
earlier works. Of the Kurdish manna from northern Iraq, a sample of which was
analyzed by Leibowitz (see above), Bodenheimer gives the following information
(p. 222): "In October, 1942, Gelal Bey, then Qaimakam of Shuarta, treated
us to some manna in the same condition as above [from Turkey] and also with a
purified morsel, which had been boiled and pressed through cloth. It is
collected in the surrounding oak forests and is consumed by the peasants as a
sweet for breakfast in the form of sherbet drinks, or as a popular medicament.
Mixed with flour the manna is turned into delightful cakes." In Iraqi
Kurdistan, the oak, Quercus infectoria is
the source of the manna. Other oak species are the source in Iranian Kurdistan.
Bodenheimer states that, without a doubt, the producer of this manna is an
aphid (species unknown). The main season is June, with a second minor peak in
September.
Bodenheimer (p. 223) cites a report
by Jafar al Khayat in 1937, in the files of the Directorate General of
Agriculture, that the Iraqian manna is regarded as a secretion of oak leaves
believed to be caused by the feeding of a small green aphid. Bodenheimer's account, from Khayat's report,
is as follows:
The
manna first appears on the under surface of the leaves as a gummy liquid, which
drops on the upper surface of the lower leaves, on branches and on the soil. It
is collected in a great many places of the Liwa Sulaimaniya and also in the
Halebje district. It is entirely restricted to the forests of Quercus infectoria in the higher
altitudes. Its normal season is from the middle of June to the second half of
July, and it is collected in the coldest hours of the early morning. The
peasants believe that it drops from the sky on the leaves and soil. When rains
are heavy in spring and in June, the manna and the insects which produce it are
washed off the oaks, and the manna production is small. Cold winds increase,
hot winds and warm, cloudy weather decrease its quantity. When the weather has
been favourable and much manna has formed on the trees, the collectors begin
their work. They cut large numbers of the branches on which manna has been
formed in any substantial quantity. The branches are then beaten until the
manna has dropped off. It is gathered into skin bags and brought to the market
as lumps of crystallized manna mixed with pieces of oak leaves and dirt. Very
rarely pure, white manna is found. The confectioners who buy it there, beat it
into pieces until it becomes soft. Then it is filled into jars, mixed with
water and left for 24 hours. The liquid is poured into bags (al shal), which
are suspended above vessels. The bags are pressed and the liquid which passes
out is collected in the vessels. This liquid is then mixed with eggs, 50 eggs
for each 400 gr. of manna, with almonds or nuts and with some essences. The
whole is boiled, cooled and cut into pieces, which are covered with fine sugar
powder. This is the manna which is sold in the markets and streets of Baghdad. The
Iraki authorities estimate that annually about 30,000 kg. of manna are sold on
the markets throughout the country, two thirds of which come from the Iranian
side of Kurdistan.
Kosztarab (1987) makes brief reference to Trabutina mannipara (Ehrenburg) and Naiacoccus serpentinus Green
(Pseudococcidae), the manna producers on Tamarix
trees in the Sinai Desert. Brown
(1975; vide Kosztarab 1987)
reported on the chemistry of aphids and scale insects.
Hymenoptera
Apidae (honey bees)
Bodenheimer (1951, pp. 225‑231)
discusses honey and honey‑hunting in the Middle East. Springer (1954)
discusses the history of beekeeping and honey in relation to the Talmud.
Orthoptera
Acrididae (short-horned grasshoppers)
Schistocerca gregaria (Forskal) (= Acridites lineola),
adult
Schistocerca peregrina (author?) (= Acridium peregrinum),
adult
Hope (1842, p. 135) rendered
his opinion on the scholarly dispute concerning whether John the Baptist ate
actual locusts or whether the term referred to the pods of a species of cassia:
The hypercritic argues that locusts are an unnatural food, forgetting that they were allowed to be eaten by Moses, the Jewish lawgiver. Now, if they were eaten in early days, and are eaten at present by people frequenting the very same desert which John the Baptist inhabited, what reason have we to think that they were ever abandoned in his time? None whatever! Locusts will still continue to be eaten, and critics still endeavor to refine, but all their acumen and learning will never convert an insect to a fruit.
H.B. Tristram (1873) (cited by Bodenheimer (1951: 215) described locusts as very good to eat when stewed
after the Arab fashion with butter. They tasted somewhat like shrimps, but had
less flavor.
Burr (1939; 212) cites Ealand
(in 1915) as expressing surprise that Bible students of yore strained so hard
over the thought of locusts, and would go to the trouble to suggest that what
John really ate was the carob which is also known as the locust bean.
Whiting (1915), in his article,
"Jerusalem's Locust Plague," gives such a vivid description that it
should be read in its entirety in order to fully grasp the magnitude of
destruction caused by the invasion and human futility in trying to combat
it. According to Whiting, students of
Joel assert that the first two chapters of that Old Testament book, up to the
28th verse, picture an actual invasion of locusts and not Judah's human
enemies. The 1915 influx, by the winged adults of Schistocerca peregrina (= Acridium peregrinum) covered all
of Palestine and Syria. At Jerusalem, "before they were seen, a loud
noise, produced by the flapping of myriads of locust wings, was heard,
described as resembling the distant rumble of waves, or, as St. John has it,
'the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running
into battle' (Rev. 9:9)." And,
Whiting says, "Attention was drawn to them by the sudden darkening of the
bright sunshine, and then by a veritable shower of their excretions, which fell
thick and fast and resembled those of mice especially noticeable on the white
macadam roads."
At Bethlehem, where the locusts were
brought to earth by heavy showers (Whiting, p. 513):
Quantities
were now gathered by the poorer Bethlehemites. A few ate them roasted,
describing the taste as delicious, especially the females full of eggs. Still,
the main reason for collecting them was in order to secure the small bonus
offered by the local government of Bethlehem. Thus tons were destroyed, being
buried alive till several ancient abandoned cisterns were filled, while in
surrounding villages each family was required to produce a stipulated weight.
Likewise in Jaffa they were destroyed by being thrown into the Mediterranean
and, when washed ashore, dead and dried on the beach, were collected and used
as fuel in the public 'Turkish baths' and ovens.
Whiting describes oviposition by the
hordes of locusts, noting that as many as 60,000 young nymphs, or
"creepers," can emerge from one square meter of soil. "Once the
alarming extent to which these eggs were laid was realized, the authorities
issued a proclamation, dated April 19, requiring each male person from 16 years
to 60 to gather eleven pounds of the eggs." The young bands advanced at
the rate of 400 to 600 feet per day, "clearing the ground of any
vegetation before them.... None but those who have seen them can begin to
imagine their countless multitudes and the destruction to follow." Whiting notes that older nymphs walk or leap
like ordinary insects, but the younger nymphs "seemed to hop like fleas,
so that when anything neared their thickened masses it seemed as if the entire
surface of the ground moved, producing a most curious effect upon one's vision
and causing dizziness, which in some was so severe as to produce a sensation
not unlike seasickness. The same was also true when watching them undisturbed
on tree or field."
There are not many accounts of
locusts in urban situations, but Whiting described their entry into Jerusalem
(pp. 525‑526):
Countless numbers of the young locusts [wingless nymphs] poured into the broad, walled road leading into the city from the west, past the United States Consulate to the Jaffa Gate. For three or four days an incessant and unending stream filled the road from side to side, like numberless troops marching on parade, and in spite of the traffic at this junction, which to this city is like lower Broadway to New York, their ranks, although thinned, entered the ancient gateway and the New Breach. 'Though in among the weapons they fall they shall not stop' (Joel 2:2).
Thus
the moat around 'David's Tower' was so filled that the dry earth seemed to be a
living mass. Up and up the city walls and the castle they climbed to their very
heights.
Whiting provides graphic photographs
and again recalls Joel (p. 526): "Did not Joel then see the already
ancient walls of Jerusalem in his day, as we now do, form so slender an
obstacle to tiny soldiers composing immense armies, causing him to so
graphically exclaim: 'They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall
like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not
break their ranks'? (Joel 2:7)." In describing the obnoxious invasion of
homes and clothing, Whiting again quotes Joel (2:9) (p. 533): "They shall
run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall; and they shall climb
up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief."
Whiting describes, as the result of all of the more succulant vegetation having been devoured by the nymphs, the special havoc caused by the new generation of young winged adults (p. 541):
Up to
this time the olive orchards had suffered comparatively little. The creeping
locusts had not seemed to care for the tough, bitter leaves while better things
were at hand, and as a rule only severely damaged individual trees where other
food was scarce. But now that these ravenously hungry, freshly moulted fliers
appeared, food had already become scarcer, obliging the creepers to seek the
heretofore despised olive, crawling up the trunks layers deep. Between the two
they stripped every leaf, berry, and even the tender bark, leaving only, where
such existed, the green tufts of the poisonous mistletoe.
Likewise
every variety of tree was attacked and stripped, with the sole exception of the
Persian lilac (Melia azedarach L.)
and oleander bushes (Nerium oleander L.).
The succulent cactus (Opuntia Ficus‑indica
L.) they seemed very fond of, but instead of commencing on the edge
of the large leaves, they ate away layer after layer over the whole surface,
giving the leaves the effect of having been jack‑planed. Even on the
scarce and prized palms they had no pity, gnawing off the tenderer ends of the
sword‑like branches, and, diving deep into the heart, they tunneled after
the juicy pith.
Concerning the use of the locusts as food,
Whiting says (p. 547):
Since
in Palestine and Syria locust visitations are very rare, the eating of them is
practically unknown by the Arabs, while in Arabia, where the locusts make their
appearances frequently, locust flesh is even found among the articles of trade.
The natives dismember the insects, pulling off legs and wings, but not the head, and while still alive roast them in a pan over a hot fire; and after being thoroughly dried in the sun, they can be stored away in sacks. The taste is said by them to be akin to that of fish.
Whiting describes attempts to reduce
locust numbers (the wingless nymphs) by herding them into traps (pp. 535‑536).
The first design was a "bottomless box" lined with shining tin, up which
the locusts cannot crawl. This was sunk in the ground at a site toward which
the locusts were moving. Smooth-faced metal barriers were extended from either
side forming a V‑shaped area which opened above the trap, and into which
the locusts could be driven. The locusts were unaffected by loud noise made in
an effort to force them between the barriers and into the trap, but waving a
large, dark‑colored cloth to cast a shadow on the ground was effective.
When the metal‑lined box was full, it could either be emptied and
refilled or pulled out of the hole, leaving the locusts to be buried. To avoid
the labor of sinking the trap it was found that the locusts readily ascended a
ramp ending over the trap. This still left the problem of disposing of the captured
insects, but lead to a further improvement, attaching the inclined plane to a
tin hopper, below which a bag was attached. The bagged locusts were then easily
carried away and destroyed.
There appears to be no reason why
this method of herding locust nymphs to their destruction could not be used for
their harvest as food or feed. Similar methods were used to destroy Mormon
crickets in the early days of the American West. According to Whiting, the
nymphs became more wary when they were large, and they were more difficult to
herd into the traps.
Bodenheimer (1951: 212) cites Hedin
(1918) who reported that along the shores of the Tigris and Euphrates [Iraq],
the Arabs tear off the wings and legs of the locusts and roast their bodies
over the fire.
Steyn (1962) cites Samsonoff's
(1919) description of an outbreak of disease among cattle, sheep and goats in
Palestine which followed an invasion by dense swarms of migratory locusts. As
summarized by Steyn: "Circumstantial evidence pointed to the probability that
the water from wells, some of which were filled with the dead bodies of larval
locusts, poisoned the animals. The symptoms, which appeared about half‑an‑hour
after the animals had drunk water from the polluted wells, were mainly of
cerebral origin ‑‑ after signs of vertigo, the animals became
comatose and died." Steyn's summary continues: "Similar symptoms
appeared in cattle, buffaloes and sheep after having eaten sorghum leaves which
had previously been attacked by locusts. Samsonoff concluded that the greenish‑yellow
secretions of the locusts poisoned the animals. However, he also stated that it
is well known that animals can consume dead locusts without suffering any
harmful effects."
Steyn (1962) also cited G. Curasson
(1934) who described cases of locust poisoning in cattle, sheep and buffaloes
in Palestine and North Africa similar to those described by Samsonoff. As
summarized by Steyn:
Curasson
succeeded in killing guinea‑pigs and rats within a few minutes with
subcutaneous injections of 0.125 ml of the greenish‑brown fluid which
consisted of secretions of the salivary glands, the stomach glands and other
glands associated with the digestive tract. Two to 4.0 ml of this fluid
injected subcutaneously, or 8.0 to 15.0 ml given by mouth to sheep and goats,
induced salivation, excitement, muscular spasms, accelerated respiration,
vertigo, coma and death. . . . Curasson used the secretions from the mouth of Locusta migratoria, var. migratorioides, Scistocerca gregaria and Cyrtacanthacris ruficornis.
Bodkin (1929) describes the anti‑locust
(Schistocerca gregaria) campaign
in Palestine in 1928. It is noted that invasions occurred in 1865, 1878, 1890,
1902, and 1915, or regularly at 12 to 13 year intervals with 1915 being the
worst plague. Bodkin states (p. 134) that: "An accurate prediction of a
locust year and the existence of an organization having at its back a plentiful
supply of materials and equipment, the good will and confidence of the
population and adequate legislative measures, are sine qua non for the successful prosecution of a locust
campaign."
The main piece of equipment used was
a standard compressed air spraying machine to which was fitted a special
adaptor for flame projection (described in detail by Bodkin on pages 135‑139).
A total of 150 flame‑throwers were purchased and distributed for use by
Department of Agriculture personnel who were formed into Field Companies. Other
equipment and materials included 2,000 hand nets for collecting locusts during
the early morning hours before they warmed sufficiently to become airborne;
portable "Lux" lamps which were attractive to locusts and, when
placed in the center of swarms at night, facilitated concentrating the insects
(which could be driven toward the center) for more efficient use of flame‑throwers;
bait and spray mixtures of molasses and sodium arsenite; and zinc sheeting
(enough to stretch nine miles) for herding the young hoppers into trenches and
pits. Training and public education efforts are described. Legislative measures
included penalties for noncompliance.
Bodkin (p. 131) relates a humorous incident
from the 1915 anti-locust campaign:
Government
control measures consisted in paying one bishlick (15 mils = 4d.) per rotol
(slightly more than six pounds) for the winged locusts and, later, a decree
that every male person must collect 18 kilograms (about 40 lb.) of eggs and all
proprietors must plough up their arable land. . . . In Jerusalem the eggs
collected were placed in a large store and, if a number of very reliable
witnesses are to be believed, as soon as this store was in receipt of a fair
number of eggs, it was possible to apply at the back entrance and there purchase
from the engaging individual in charge the correct amount of eggs
decreed for collection by each male member of the population. A visit, later,
to the front door for delivery of
these eggs would then be made and a receipt obtained to the effect that one's
duty by the government ‑ so far as the collection of locust eggs was
concerned ‑ had been fulfilled. Thus all parties were satisfied ‑
particularly the storekeeper. Many parcels of eggs must have embarked, and
continued, on a passage from back door to front door and back again to the rear
entrance of the store. This store gradually got filled, however, as many impecunious
people were forced to go out and collect the requisite number of eggs. The eggs
in the store eventually hatched and the unpleasing spectacle was presented of
all available exits therefrom literally vomiting young locusts in mi11ions and
mi11ions.
Relative to use of the locusts as
food, Bodkin states (p. 134):
The well known Biblical quotation of a diet of 'locusts and wild honey,' so far as locusts are concerned, still holds good. The inhabitants and Beduin tribes of the Jordan Valley greatly appreciated the arrival of the winged swarms this year, and it was no uncommon spectacle to see numbers of these people returning from the early morning campaign laden with sacks of locusts which they kept with them in their houses, each day drying a small number in the sun, afterwards frying them in oil and consuming them. In Transjordan the locusts fetched a fair price for food.
Bodkin continues (p. 134): "The
avian and mammalian fauna of Palestine enjoyed a rich diet in places where the
winged swarms appeared. Birds such as sparrows, bee‑eaters, and
especially storks, assisted the efforts of the Government and population in the
work of destruction."
Probably one of the earliest extant
references to insects as food is in the Book of Leviticus in the Christian
Bible (Lev. 11: 20‑23, as translated in the Good News Bible, 1976):
" [20] All winged insects are unclean, [21] except those that hop. [22]
You may eat locusts, crickets, or grasshoppers. [23] But all other small things
that have wings and also crawl must be considered unclean." In the Book of Matthew, which may have been
written as early as the First Century AD, we read of John the Baptist (Matt.
3:4, Good News Bible 1976): "John's clothes were made of camel's hair; he
wore a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild
honey." In the Mishna, which is the
first part of the Talmud, completed in about 220 AD, there is extensive
reference to locusts, which are considered "clean" or okay to eat
(translation by Danby 1933; vide Bodenheimer 1951, p. 41). The traditions set
down in the Mishna were held by the Pharisees to be of equal authority with the
written law of Moses.
See also Forbes (1813) and
Bodenheimer (1951) in the Introduction).
SAUDI
ARABIA AND KUWAIT
Orthoptera
Acrididae (long-horned grasshoppers)
Cyrtacanthacris (= Nomadacris) septemfasciata (Serville), adult
Schistocerca gregaria (Forskal), adult
Hasselquist
(1766, pp. 230‑233), attempting to
establish that John the Baptist did indeed eat locusts, confirmed to his
satisfaction that locusts were still eaten by Arabs in Egypt, the Arabian
Peninsula, and elswhere (see discussion under Egypt).
J.L. Burckhardt (1831) is cited by Bodenheimer (1951: 214), saying that,
all of the Bedouins of Arabia as well as the town people of Nedjd and Hejaz are accustomed to eat locusts. At Medina and Tayf he saw locust‑shops, where these insects were sold by measure. In Egypt and Nubia they are eaten by the poorest beggars only. The Arabs, in preparing them for food, throw them alive into boiling salty water. After a few minutes they are taken out and dried in the sun. The hard legs and wings are then torn off, the bodies are cleaned of the salt and completely dried, after which process whole sacks are filled with them by the Bedouins. They are sometimes consumed broiled in butter, and they often form part of the breakfast, when they are spread over unleavened bread mixed with butter.
Of all the Bedouins encountered by Burckhardt,
those of the Sinai alone did not use locusts as food.
Palgrave
(1865, pp. 345‑347) describes an
encounter with a vast swarm of locusts, just settling down for the night on the
Hasa plain. He says that:
. . .
our dromedaries capered and started as though struck with sudden insanity....
it would be hard to say which of the two were the most frightened, they or the
locusts. It was truly laughable to see so huge a beast lose his wits for fear
at the flight of a harmless, stingless insect; of all timid creatures none
equal the 'ship of the desert' for cowardice.
But if
the beasts were frightened, not so their masters; I really thought they would
have gone mad with joy. Locusts are here an article of food, nay, a dainty, and
a good swarm of them is begged of heaven no less fervently than it would be
deprecated in India or in Syria.... When boiled or fried they are said to be
delicious, and boiled and fried accordingly they are to an incredible extent.
However, I could never persuade myself to taste them, whatever invitations the
inhabitants of the land, smacking their lips over large dishes of entomological
'delicatesses' could make me to join them. Barakat ventured on one, and one
only, for a trial; he pronounced it oily and disgusting; it is caviare to
unaccustomed palates.
Palgrave
states that, to his knowledge, locusts are never eaten by the Bedouins or
villagers of Syria, Mesopotamia, and Iraq, and this may be because the locusts
of the north are much smaller and more like "ordinary grasshoppers."
Lady Ann
Blunt (1881, pp. 94, 96) tells
of encountering, on December 30, in an inhospitable‑looking range of
hills called El Mizmeh, "great numbers of red locusts which, as the sun
warmed the ground, began to fly about and were pursued by the men and knocked
down with sticks. Enough have been secured to make a dish for dinner.... The
locusts fried are fairly good to eat."
Doughty
(1923, I, pp. 203‑204, 335‑336,
472; II, pp. 245‑246, 323, 332, 436‑437) makes a number of
references to locusts, stating (I, pp. 203‑204):
The
same evening we saw flights of locusts.... The bird‑like insects
flittering upon their glassy feeble wings in the southern wind, fell about the
camp; these locusts were toasted presently at all watch‑fires and eaten.
The women on the morrow had gathered great heaps, and were busy singeing them
in shallow pits, with a weak fire of herbs; they give up a sickly odour of
dried fish oil. Thus cured and a little salt cast in, the locust meat is stived
in leathern sacks, and will keep a good long while: they mingle this, brayed
small, with their often only liquid diet of sour buttermilk. Locust powder is
not victual to set before guests; and I have seen poor nomads (more often
women) a little out of countenance to confess that (to beguile hunger) they
were eating this wretchedness. The best is the fat spring locust, and 'fretting
every green thing,' the Aarab [sic] account them medicinal. The later broods, dubba, born of these, sexless, or
imperfect females, finding only a burned‑up herbage, are dry and
unwholesome. This early locust, toasted, is reckoned a sweetmeat in town and in
desert.
On
page 336: "The children bring in gathered locusts, broached upon a twig,
and the nomads toast them on the coals; then plucking the scorched members,
they break away the head, and the insect body that remains is good meat; but
not of these latter swarms, born in time of the dried-up herbage."
In Volume II, Doughty mentions (p.
323) seeing baskets of parched locusts in the market, and also mentions the
threat that locusts pose to the date crop (p. 436):
The
fruit‑stalks hanged already ‑ with full clusters of green berries ‑
in the crowns of the female palms: the promise was of an abundant harvest,
which is mostly seen after the scarcity and destruction of a locust‑year....
This year there were few hitherto and weak flights; but sometimes with the
smooth wind that follows the sun‑rising the flickering jarad drove in upon us: and then the lads,
with palm branches of a spear's length, ran hooting in the orchard and brushed
them out of the trees and clover. The fluttering insects rising before them
with a whir‑r‑r! were
borne forth to the Nefud. The good lads took up the bodies of the slain crying,
'They are good and fat;' and ran to the arbour to toast them.
P.W. Harrison (1924), cited by
Bodenheimer (1951: 214), explains that roasted locusts taste better than they
look. "We do not have roasted locusts every year in Arabia, but when we
have them, we have lots of them. In such years the locusts may come over the
country in great clouds which obscure the sun for two or three days." Bodenheimer (p. 215) also cites T. Canaan
(1928) who writes of a visit to the Azazima Bedouins of the Negeb: "Locust
swarms passed from the South with a heavy grinding noise.... Many Bedouins
roasted the adults over a small fire. After a light roasting the insect is
gently rubbed between both hands, to break off the wings and legs. Roasted
locusts are a highly esteemed dish with the Azazime."
Raswan (1934, p. 59), who spent many years living with the Bedouins, writes that
while camping near the oasis al‑Jauf, reddish locusts began to
"rain" upon the tents. Bodenheimer (1951, pp. 215‑216)
summarizes as follows:
Immediately,
men, women and children hurried to collect them from the ground which they
covered with a red carpet. Locusts were roasted on all fires. Children, women
and men sat around the fires, and ate them, holding them by their wings,
pulling off the legs, and dipping them into salt. Boiled, Raswan did not like
them, as they tasted like insipid cabbage. Yet roasted they are crisp, the
interior having the taste of spinach. They are clean animals, not at all
repugnant, but one soon tires of them, when they are served every day. Women
and children continued to collect them, and on the next morning mountains of
locusts were spread for dryng in the sun. When we left the camp a few days
later, we had no empty sacks or bags. The camels were fully loaded with dried
locusts. Men, dogs and camels delighted in them, but for a few days only, when
they became repugnant. The remainder of the dried locusts was kept for later
days of famine, as huge locust swarms always foretell drought and famine ....
Faris told him that tens of thousands of Bedouins have to subsist often for
weeks only upon locusts, and camels and horses have at times to be fed with
them. Four days after breaking camp every pasture was destroyed by the locusts.
Hess (1938, p. llO; vide Bodenheimer 1951: 216) gave the following recipe in use
with the Arabs of Central Arabia for locusts as a dainty dish. As summarized by
Bodenheimer: "The locusts are collected early in the morning, while still
drowsy with cold, in bags which are sown up. Then they are thrown into boiling
salty water, which later is poured away. The insects are then spread upon old
tent cloth to dry in the sun. For eating they are pounded in a mortar and the
flour is mixed with salt and fat, and perhaps also with dates. Sometimes the
locusts are roasted in a special cooking pit, the zibweh."
Guarmani
(1938, p. 38), who travelled in
northwestern Arabia, says, "For breakfast they gave me camel's milk and
baked locusts. The milk was, as usual, excellent, but the locusts very
tasteless. I only ate two of them." Bodenheimer (1951, p. 214) quotes
additionally from Guarmani: "At Tueie the inhabitants were engaged in
gathering up locusts which they had roasted in deep holes in the sand. I bought
four sacks full. They are a valued source of supply to the inhabitants of the
Nedjd. Their flights across the sky are watched by many anxious eyes and they
are followed wherever they settle. Holes are dug in the ground, wherein they
are roasted with all speed."
According to Bodenheimer:
Guarmani claims that experience had taught him that locusts are not to be recommended as food for man, in spite of the enthusiastic remarks to the contrary made by the greedy orientals. When roasted they are tasteless, and when boiled they become watery, although for horses they are as good as oats. They fill their stomachs and increase their muscle without making them fat . . . The traveller should have them gathered and after the legs and wings are taken off should buy them at the price of barley. The peasant reaps an immense harvest from this plague.
Dickson
(1949, pp. 447‑454), a Kuwait
government official concerned with locust control, published extracts from his
official diaries of 1929‑1932. They are reminicent, in their vividness,
of Whiting's account of the Jerusalem plague. Dickson says of the species
involved:
The
flying ones we see and know in Kuwait and North‑East Arabia are of two
main types, the carmine or red‑coloured ones known locally as the Yakhakh (Nomadacris septemfasciata) and
the Common Desert Yellow variety with brown markings (Schistocerca gregaria) known as Jarad. The red locust is the kind most
eaten by the inhabitants of Arabia. They eat only the females ‑ and quite
good they are, fried in butter with salt, or boiled. They taste much like roast
chestnuts, and no doubt one pleasure the Arab has in eating them is the feeling
that he is avenging himself for all the damage the insect has done him ‑
at least this is what my Badawin friends say, and I can understand it.
Relative
to the term, Yakhakh, Dickson
says, "Strictly speaking this is the name given to any kind of
grasshopper, which it is haram
(unlawful) to eat as opposed to the locust proper, which is halal (lawful). The red locust is
definitely halal."
According to Dickson, the source of
locusts in Arabia seems generally to be Africa, from where they migrate first
from Ethiopia to Yemen and then select one of two routes, one along the south
coast of Arabia to southern Pakistan and India, the other north to Hijaz, Najd,
and northeastward to Iraq and Iran. There are, of course, subsidiary migration
routes. Also, some swarms enter Palestine and Northern Hijaz probably via Egypt
and the Sinai, and others cross the Red Sea north of Jiddah, but the main route
appears to be from Ethiopia to the southwestern part of the Arabian Peninsula.
As part of his account of
destruction caused by the locusts, Dickson describes the convergence of a band
of dibba (wingless young hoppers)
converging in April, 1929, on the oasis of Jahrah, 20 miles west of Kuwait.
[They
were] advancing on a 4‑mile front with a depth of two miles. The ground
was seething with them, like a moving and undulating carpet, each dibba marching shoulder to shoulder with
his neighbour, and in such a thick mass that as the car drove through them the
wheels left regular lanes, as if we were driving through yellow‑black
snow. The millions of insects that were crushed in this process were instantly
devoured by their companions and in a few seconds our car tracks were
obliterated. The country through which the insects had passed was stripped
quite bare, and where bushes had previously been seen, nothing but bare desert
sand remained. Even the thick stalks of large bushes 3 feet high were entirely
devoured. [When this band reached Kuwait] myriads upon myriads of the dibba, in spite of all efforts to check
them, swept over the city wall into the town, in a horrible sort of yellow‑black
wave, destroying on their way every single garden lying between the walls of
the city and the houses proper. The ravages of the creatures and the persistent
way in which they swarmed over every building and invaded the innermost
apartments, had to be seen to be believed. The Agency Building, my own house
endured a five‑day assault, and in spite of gauze doors and windows
everywhere, a great many got into the public rooms, where they did much damage
to carpets and furniture.
In a similar invasion by the dibba in May, 1931, a mass of billions of
the crawlers "once again surged over the walls of the city much as molten
lava tips over the edge of a crator of a volcano and progresses slowly down the
side of the mountain . . . . this time the shops in the bazaar seemed to
attract the insects more than in the previous year, and hundreds of yards of
silk and cotton material were devoured or rendered useless. Again the loathsome
swarms invaded private houses, kitchens and food."
Dickson states that the Badawin
proper, the migrating camel tribes, do not mind the locusts so much, in fact,
rejoice in a way when they see them.
It does not worry these nomads if large tracts are denuded of fodder; they simply move off to country which has not been visited. They know that the damage done by locust swarms is more or less local, and that the insect will move to more favourable country lying to the north (Iraq) and will not bother them for long. They also enjoy the wonderful opportunity to satisfy for once in a while their ever‑prevailing hunger. Nor is this all, for their horses, camels and dogs all get their fill, as well as foxes, bustard, monitor lizards, kites, shrikes and a dozen other denizens of the desert.
Dickson mentions visiting a Badawin
camp which had just received a visitation of red locusts:
The
whole camp had turned out to slay and collect the insects for food, and from
the numbers collected it was evident that they had had a most successful day.
The roofs of all the black tents were strewn from end to end with dead locusts
spread out to dry, every available mat, rug and lahaf was also laid out to take the excess catch, and
camels, dogs, mares and human beings were hard at work eating the insects,
whilst cooking pots, bags, paniers and water‑skins were crammed to
overflowing with dried ones.
Dickson concludes: "I,
personally, never could fancy locusts much, but my wife and daughter,
especially the daughter, revelled in them. I am told that even Badawin enjoy
them for a few days only, after which their gorge seems to rise against the
food, and they give the remnants of their catch to their animals."
As reported in the San Francisco Chronicle (September 22, 1988), the worst locust plague in 25 years
has provided a gastronomical delight for some Saudi Arabians who have taken to
grilling them like shrimp. In sort of a
new twist to the old insecticide residue problem, however, health officials
warned them to stop eating the insects because they may be tainted with lethal
insecticides.
TURKEY
Coleoptera
Tenebrionidae (darkling beetles)
Blaps sp., adult
Pimelia sp., adult
Tenebrio sp., adult
Shaw (1738), and, according to Bodenheimer (1951, pp. 207, 209), Bargagli (1877, p. 4), Niebuhr and many
travelers, particularly in the 18th century, reported on the habit of Turkish
and North African women of eating adult tenebrionid beetles (Blaps, Tenebrio, and Pimelia) when they wished to put on
weight. Plump women were "the beauty ideal of the Levant."
Homoptera
Aphididae (aphids)
In discussing Kurdish manna, Bodenheimer (1951, p. 222) says, "When
I obtained the first specimen in Turkey, I was certain that it was a stone
covered superficially with a small amount of hardened honeydew mixed with the
fragments of oak leaves. We learned much later only that the entire 'stone' was
manna." On page 224, Bodenheimer
writes:
From
Turkey the writer was able to obtain much less precise information. It is
common in the vilayets of Mardin, Van, Siirt and Elazig, where, suddenly in May
or June, clouds are assumed to appear over different parts of the country which
shed a certain liquid, which solidifies into a sugary solution, looking just
like hoarfrost. It is white. What drops on the soil is lost. As no forecast of
the manna dropping can be given, much manna is lost in this way. The manna
which falls on the oaks solidifies and the villagers collect it without delay,
as it soon dissolves and its collection becomes impossible. Within the same
village the manna may fall on one field, yet not on that adjoining. Manna
collects also on other plants, such as Thuja.
The manna from walnut trees or from tobacco leaves (other honeydew excretions
of known aphids) has a bitter taste. The green colour of the sample comes from
the leaves of the oaks. Manna itself is a sugary syrup, white and transparent.
After melting, it becomes reddish. In certain years manna may be found in the
vilayet of Mardin, but it is absent from Siirt and with very little only at
Van. In some years it does not fall at all. To conclude, writes our correspondent,
the fall of the manna remains an inexplicable mystery.
Hymenoptera
Apidae (honey bees)
Bodenheimer
(1942) discusses beekeeping in Turkey.
Cynipidae (gall wasps)
Aulacidea levantina Hed., galls
Olivier
(1813, I, p. 139; vide Bodenheimer 1951, p.
67) confirms an earlier report that the galls of sage (Salvia spp.) are gathered as food by the
inhabitants of Crete. He adds, as summarized by Bodenheimer, that the galls,
"are esteemed in the Levant for their aromatic and acid flavour,
especially when prepared with honey and sugar, and form a considerable article
of commerce from Scio to Constantinople [Istanbul], where they are regularly on
sale in the market." According to
Bodenheimer, this is the gall of the cynipid, Aulacidea
levantina Hed.
SOUTHWEST
ASIA: GEOGRAPHICALLY UNSPECIFIC
Orthoptera
Acrididae (short-horned grasshoppers)
Brygoo (1946), cited by Bodenheimer (1951: 44), quotes from the treatise on zoology by Abu Osuran:
"I do not know a more delicate dish than their meat. Roasted locusts have
the same taste and smell as have roasted scorpions, both of which resemble that
of chicken meat."
The great zoological Lexicon (Hayat
al‑hayawan, Ed., LondonBombay, 1906, I, pp. 413 ff.), in which Kamal‑ad‑Din
ad‑Damiri (1341‑1408) discussed the "Lawfulness and
unlawfulness" of eating locusts from the standpoint of Islamic tradition,
is quoted as follows by Bodenheimer (pp. 43‑44):
All
of the Muslims are agreed that its eating is permitted. Abdallah ben Abi‑Awfa
said: 'We went with the Prophet on seven military expeditions and we used to
eat locusts.' Abu‑Dawud, al Bukhari and the Hafid Abu‑Nu'aim
states: 'And the Prophet used to eat them with us.' Ibn‑Majah recalls in
the name of Anas how the wives of the Prophet used to send them locusts on
trays as presents. Omar was asked about locusts and replied: 'I wish I had a
basketful of them to eat.'. . . . Yahya ben Zakariya used to eat locusts . . .
. The four imams state that the eating of locusts is equally permissible when
they have died a natural death or have been killed lawfully or have died after
being hunted by a Majian or a Muslim, and whether or not any part of them has
been cut off. It is said in the name of Ahmed that if they have died from cold
they ought not to be eaten, and the school of Malik holds that if their heads
are cut, they are lawful, but otherwise unlawful. The proof, however, of their
being lawful under all circumstances is the statement of the Prophet: 'Lawful
for us are two dead (animals) and two bloods, ‑ liver and spleen, fish
and locusts.' . . . . Our theologians and other sages differ as to whether
locusts are land or sea game . . . . It is permissible to make an advance of
money or property and to receive payment for it in locusts and fish, both alive
and dead, when they are to be had in abundance, but every article has to be
renamed for what is worthy of it (in return) . . . . Among the proverbs we
read: 'A date is better than a locust.'
References Cited (An * denotes not seen in the original)
Bargagli, P. 1877. Insetti Commestibili Lettura nell. Soc. Entomol. Ital. Revista Europaea‑Riv.
Internaz. Fasc. 16, 6, 11 pp. * (Turkey: Tenebrionidae)
Berthelot, M. 1858. Sur le trehalose, nouvelle espece de sucre. Comptes Rendus de l'Acad. des Sci. 46: 1276‑1279.* (Iraq/Israel/etc.: Curculionidae)
Blunt, A. 1881. A Pilgrimage to
Nejd. 2 vols. London: John Murray, I, pp. 94, 96. (Saudi Arabia: Acrididae)
Bodenheimer, F.S. 1929. Uber das Tamariskenmanna des Sinai. In: Ergebnisse der Sinai‑Expedition
1927, F.S. Bodenheimer; O. Theodor, pp. 45‑89. Leipzig.*
(Iraq/Israel/etc.: Cicadellidae and Pseudococcidae)
Bodenheimer, F.S. 1935. pp. 247, 249.*
(Iraq/Israel/etc.: Curculionidae)
Bodenheimer, F.S. 1942. Studies on the Honey‑Bee and Bee‑Keeping in Turkey. Ankara,
pp. 45‑50.* (Turkey: Apidae)
Bodenheimer, F.S. 1947. The manna of Sinai. Biblical
Archaeol. 10: 2‑6.
(Iraq/Israel/etc.: Aphididae and Pseudococcidae)
Bodenheimer, F.S. l951. Insects as Human Food. The Hague: W. Junk, 352 pp. (Most countries,
orders and families)
Bodkin, G.E. 1929. The locust invasion of Palestine during 1928. Bull. Entomol. Res. 20: 123‑139, 3
pl. (Iraq/Israel/etc.: Acrididae)
Brown, K.S. 1975. The chemistry of aphids and scale insects. Chem. Soc. Ref. 4: 263‑288.* (Iraq/Israel/etc.: Pseudococcidae)
Burr, M. 1939. The Insect Legion. London: James Nisbet &
Co., Ltd., pp. 208‑225.
(Iraq/Israel/etc.: Acrididae)
Capiomont, ; Leprieur, . 1874. Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. ser. 5, 4: 65.* (Iraq/Israel/etc.: Curculionidae)
Dickson, H.R.P. 1949. The Arab of the Desert. A Glimpse into Badawin Life in Kuwait and Saudi
Arabia. London: George Allen & Unwin LTD, pp. 447‑454. (Saudi Arabia: Acrididae)
Doughty, C.M. 1923. Travels in Arabia Deserta. 2 vols. New York: Boni & Liveright,
Inc., Vol. I, pp. 203‑204, 335‑336, 472; II, 245‑246, 323,
332, 436‑437. (Saudi Arabia:
Acrididae)
Forbes, J. 1813 [1834]. Oriental
Memoirs: A Narrative of Seventeen Years Residence in India. 2 vols. London:
Richard Bentley, I, pp. 31‑32.
(Iraq/Israel/etc.: Introduction)
Gervais, ; van Beneden. 1859. Zoologie Medicale, pp. 311‑313.*
(Iraq/Israel/etc.: Curculionidae)
Guarmani, C. 1938. Northern Najd. A Journey from Jerusalem to Anaiza in Qasim. English
translation. London: The Argonaut Press, p. 38
(Saudi Arabia: Acrididae)
Guibourt, . 1858. Notice sur une matiere pharmaceutique nommee la Trehala, produite par
un Insecte de la famille des Charancons. Revue
et Magasin de Zoologie, ser. 2, 10: 276.* (Iraq/Israel/etc.: Curculionidae)
Hanbury, D. 1859. Note on two insect‑products from Persia. J. Proc. Linn. Soc., Zool. 3: 178‑183.* (Iraq/Israel/etc.: Curculionidae)
Hardwick, T. 1822 [1980]. Description of a substance called Gez or Manna, and the insect
producing it. Asiat. Res. 14:
182-186. (Iran: Psyllidae)
Hasselquist, F. 1766. Voyages and Travels in the Levant; In the Years 1749, 50, 51, 52.
London (English edition): Davis and Reymers, pp. 230‑233. (Saudi Arabia: Acrididae)
Hess, J.J. 1938. Von den Beduinen des Inneren Arabiens. Zurich und Leipzig, pp. 110,
118.* (Saudi Arabia: Acrididae)
Hope, F.W. 1842. Observations
respecting various insects which at different times have afforded food to man. Trans. Entomol. Soc. London 1842: 129‑150. (Iraq/Israel/etc.: Acrididae)
Isman, M.B.; Cohen, M.S. 1995. Kosher insects. Am.
Entomologist 41(2): 100-102.
(Iraq/Israel/etc.: Introduction)
Kaiser, A. 1924. Der heutige Stand der Mannafrage. Mittheil. Thurqau. Naturf. Ges. Heft
25.* (Iraq/Israel/etc.: Homoptera)
Kaiser, A. 1930. Neue naturwissenschaftliche Forschungen auf der Sinai‑Halbinsel.
Zeitschr. D. Pal. Ver., pp. 63‑75.*
(Iraq/Israel/etc.: Homoptera)
Kosztarab, M. 1987. Everything unique or unusual about scale insects (Homoptera:
Coccoidae). Bull. Entomol. Soc. Am. 33:
215-220. (Iraq/Israel/etc.:
Pseudococcidae)
Leibowitz, J. 1943. A new source of trehalose. Nature 152:
414. (Iraq/Israel/etc.: Curculionidae)
Olivier, A.G. 1813. Travels in the Ottoman Empire, Egypt and Persia. (English
translation.) 2 vols. London, I, p. 139.*
(Turkey: Cynipidae)
Palgrave, W.G. 1865 [1908]. Personal Narrative of a Year's Journey Through Central and
Eastern Arabia (1862‑63). 2 vols London: Macmillan & Co., LTD, pp.
345‑347. (Saudi Arabia: Acrididae)
Pierce, W.D. 1915. The uses of certain weevils in food and medicine. Proc. Entomol. Soc. Wash. 17: 151‑154. (Iraq/Israel/etc.: Curculionidae)
Raswan, C.R. 1934. Im Land der schwarzen Zelte. Mein Leben unter Beduinen. Berlin: Verlag
des Druckhauses Tempelhof, p. 59. (Saudi
Arabia: Acrididae)
Shaw, T. 1738. Travels, or
Observations Relating to Several Parts of Barbary and the Levant. Oxford. (Turkey: Tenebrionidae)
Springer, B.V. 1954. Bee‑keeping in the Talmud ‑ I‑VII. Brit. Bee J. 82: 62, 79, 99, 107, 149,
151, 182, 216. (Iraq/Israel/etc.:
Apidae)
Steyn, D.G. 1962. Grasshopper (Phymateus leprosus Fabr.)
poisoning in a Bantu child. S. Afr. Med. J. 36:
822‑823. (Iraq/Israel/etc.:
Acrididae)
Whiting, J.D. 1915. Jerusalem's locust plague. Nat.
Geograph. 28: 511‑550.
(Iraq/Israel/etc.: Acrididae)
Chapter
21 in, The Human Use of Insects as a Food Resource: A Bibliographic Account in
Progress,
by
Gene R. DeFoliart, posted on website, August, 2002.