Chapter 26

EASTERN ASIA: CHINA, JAPAN, OTHER COUNTRIES

Overview

This region includes China, Japan, Korea, Macau and Taiwan. The specific identity is known for 46 species used as food, but as indicated in the Regional Inventory, the use of at least 66 species belonging to at least 47 genera, 38 families and 13 orders has been reported. As in other regions, the total number used is much greater than indicated in the Inventory. To cite only one example, the Inventory lists only "cicadid spp." as eaten in China (which counts as one in the above total), but Bodenheimer (1951) states that any available species of cicada is eaten, adults as well as nymphs. Similarly in Japan, Remington (1946) reported that among the very popular insects eaten are all species of Cicadidae, but the Inventory lists only one species by scientific name. A similar lack of published information on specific identities in various other groups results in an Inventory list that is far from complete.

Regional Taxonomic Inventory

Taxa and stages consumed Countries

Coleoptera

Beetle grubs China

Aquatic larvae and adults Japan

Cerambycidae (long‑horned beetles)

Cerambycid larvae/pupae China, Japan

Curculionidae (weevils, snout beetles)

Cyrtotruchelus longimanus (author?), larva China

Rhynchophorus chinensis (author?) China

Dytiscidae (predaceous diving beetles)

Cybister bengalensis Aube, adult China

Cybister guerini Aube, adult China

Cybister japonicus Sharp, adult China, Japan

Cybister limbatus Fabr., adult China

Cybister spp., adults China

Cybister sugillatus Er., adult China

Cybister tripunctatus Ol., adult China

Dytiscus marginalis (author?) China

Dytiscus spp., adults Japan

Dytiscid water beetles China, Japan, Macau, Taiwan

Hydrophilidae (water scavenger beetles)

Hydrous bilineatus MacLeay, adult China

Hydrous cavisternum Bedel, adult China

Hydrous hastatus Herbst, adult China

Hydrous pallidipalpis MacLeay, adult China

Hydrophilid water beetles Japan, Macau

Elateridae (click beetles)

Elaterid larvae, pupae Japan

Scarabaeidae (scarab beetles)

Scarabaeus molossus Linn., larva China

Scarab beetle adults China

Family uncertain

Melanaster chinensis Forster, larva China

Psacothea hilaris Pascoe, larva China

Diptera

Calliphoridae (blow flies)

Chrysomyia megacephala (Fabr.), larva China

Calliphorid larvae China

Muscidae (filth flies)

Musca domestica vicina Macq., larva China

Sarcophagidae (flesh flies)

Sarcophagid larvae China

Ephemeroptera

Mayfly nymphs/adults China, Japan

Hemiptera

Aquatic Hemiptera Japan

Belostomatidae (giant water bugs)

Lethocerus indicus Lep. & Serv., adult China

Belostomatid sp. China, Japan

Pentatomidae (stink bugs)

Tessaratoma papillosa Drury, adult China

Homoptera

Cicadidae (cicadas)

Graptopsaltria nigrofasciata Motschulsky, adult Japan

Cicadid spp., nymphs/adults China, Japan

Hymenoptera

Apidae (honey bees)

Apis mellifera Linn., drone pupa Japan

Bee larvae/pupae/adults China, Japan

Formicidae (ants)

Polyrhachis vicina Roger China

Ant larvae/pupae China

Scoliidae (scoliids)

Scoliid larva, pupa China

Vespidae {wasps, hornets)

Polistes spp., pupae Japan

Vespa japonica (author?) Japan

Vespa spp., larvae China, Japan

Vespula lewisi (author?), larva, pupa, adult Japan

Vespula sp., larva, pupa Japan

Wasp larvae, pupae China

Isoptera

Rhinotermitidae

Coptotermes formosanus (author?) China

Termitidae

Macrotermes barnyi (author?) China

Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera pupae not found in soil Japan

Bombycidae (silkworm moths)

Bombyx mori (Linn.), pupa China, Japan, Korea

Cossidae (carpenter moths, leopard moths)

Cossid spp., larvae Japan

Gelechiidae

Pectinophora gossypiella Saunders, larva China

Hepialidae (ghost moths and swifts)

Hepialus armoricanus Oberthur, larva with Cordyceps fungus China

Hepialus oblifurcus Chu and Wang, larva with Cordyceps fungus China

Limacodidae (slug caterpillars)

"Eucleid" sp. (hag moth), pupa Japan

Noctuidae (noctuids)

Hydrillodes morosa (author?), larval excreta China

Pyralidae (snout and grass moths)

Aglossa dimidiata (author?), larval excreta China

Saturniidae (giant sikworm moths)

Antheraea pernyi (Guérin-Méneville), pupa China

Saturnia pyretorum (Westw.), larva China

Sphingidae (sphinx or hawk-moths)

Clanis bilineata Walker, larva, pupa China

Sphinx moth larvae China

Mantodea

Mantid spp. Japan

Odonata

Dragonfly nymphs, adults China, Japan, Taiwan

Orthoptera

Acrididae (short‑horned grasshoppers)

Acrida lata Motschulsky, adult Korea

Locusta migratoria Linn. China

Locusta migratoria manilensis Megen China

Oxya chinensis Thunberg China

Oxya japonica japonica Willemse, adult Japan

Oxya sinuosa Mistshenko, adult Korea

Oxya velox Fabr. Japan, Korea

Oxya yezoensis Shiracki Japan

Locusts/grasshoppers China, Japan

Blattidae (roaches)

Periplaneta americana (Linn.) China

Periplaneta australasiae (Fabr.) China

Gryllidae (crickets)

Crickets China, Japan

Superfamily Tettigonioidea

Tettigonioid sp. Japan

Gryllotalpidae (mole crickets)

Mole crickets China

Plecoptera

Stonefly spp., nymphs Japan

Trichoptera

Family uncertain

Stenopsyche griseipennis MacLachan, larva Japan

A main characteristic of Chinese medicine is described in an old saying that drugs and food are homologous in their function for human health (Shen et al 1997). In keeping with this, in China there is no clear distinction between use of insects as food and their use as medicine or tonic. Hoffmann, for example, reports that dytiscid water beetles are used both as medicine (as an anti-diuretic) and to a lesser extent as a confection, and hepialid caterpillars infected with Cordyceps fungus are considered both a delicacy and as tonic food. Shen (1993) mentions a restaurant in Beijing that is well-known for its use of insects and other arthropods as "medical food." In this double context, there has been much publicity in Chinese newspapers and other mass-media in recent years relative to ants, termites and fly larvae.

According to Hoffmann, Bodenheimer and others, the Cantonese are the most entomophagous of the Chinese, but many insects such as locusts, water beetles, silkworm pupae and others are marketed widely in the country. Not all are considered necessarily as health foods. Of the giant water bug, Lethocerus indicus, Hoffmann says, "They are considered a delicacy and are eaten because they are relished; no medicinal value is ascribed to them." In general, according to Bodenheimer, "the insects are taken as accessory food and used as a dish which sometimes is considered as a delicacy." The pupae of the silkworm, Antheraea pernyi, are one such luxury. Farmers who have them may give them to their friends or relatives as "a special gift."

In both historical and modern Japan, the most popular and widely eaten edible insect has been the rice-field grasshopper, Oxya japonica, which, fried and slightly seasoned with soy sauce, is known as inago. After near depletion, populations of this grasshopper have increased in recent years as the result of reduced pesticide use, and inago is reappearing on dinner tables, and in supermarkets and restaurants, although still sold as a luxury item (Mitsuhashi 1984). Kantha (1988) notes the two-fold benefit of renewed use of inago, lauding its value as a source of animal protein and removal as an agricultural pest. Similarly, Mitsuhashi suggests that, with rice in over-production, why not let inago feed on the excess rice, thus increasing the population of a good source of animal protein.

The second most widely eaten insect food in modern Japan is hachinoko, bee or wasp larvae which may be eaten raw, boiled down in soy sauce, or served over boiled rice (Mitsuhashi 1984). Bee and wasp brood (and even wasp adults) are among the many canned insects available in Japan, and Mitsuhashi (1988) reports that a wasp-rice dish was a favorite of the late Emperor Hirohito. The canned wasps are expensive, a can (about 65 g) selling for yen 1,000 (about US $8.00 in 1988). Pemberton and Yamasaki (1995) report that canned "child hornets" were being sold for about US $20 per 100 g can in the prestigious Mitsukoshi Department Store in Tokyo in 1990. Another widely available product in Japan, both canned and in restaurants, is zazamushi, the name for aquatic insects inhabiting gravel beds in rivers and usually consisting mainly of larval Trichoptera. According to Pemberton and Yamasaki, all three of the above foods, inago, hachinoko and zazamushi are found on the menu of restaurants in Tokyo that specialize in foods of the Japanese Alps.

As happened in Japan, Pemberton (1994) has documented for South Korea the increased marketing of the rice-field grasshopper (known as metdugi) following reduced use of pesticides. Canned silkworm (Bombyx mori) pupae are also popular (as they are elsewhere in East Asia) and are found in the markets in Seoul. They are also exported. They can be bought in Asian foodshops in the United States, including in Madison, Wisconsin, where, according to a shopkeeper they are a popular item in the local Korean community.

CHINA

Donovan (1798, p.6) quotes an earlier undisclosed author saying, "Under the roots of the canes is found a large white grub, which being fried in oil is eaten as a dainty by the Chinese," and that "the aurelias [pupae] of the silk worm which is cultivated in China, after the silk is wound off, furnish an article for the table." Donovan states that Scarabaeus molossus Linn. and S. bucephalus are both very common in China, and of the grub found in cane roots, he states, "Perhaps this is the larva of Scarabaeus molossus, which, like many other of the Scarabaei, may live sedentary in the ground, and subsist on the roots of plants: the general description and abundance of this insect in China favours such opinion." Darwin (1800, p. 364), possibly drawing on the same early author, mentions that "the aurelia of the silk-worm, after the silk is wound off, and the white earth-grub, and the larva of the sphinx moth, furnish articles at the table, and are said to be delicious."</