Table 3.
Different orders of common edible insects and their traditional ways of cooking.
| Insect Order | Typical Insect | Cooking Method | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coleoptera | Palm weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus larva) | Eat raw, boil, fry, grill | [105,106] |
| bamboo worm (Omphisa fuscidentalis) | deep-fried | ||
| huhu beetle (Prionoplus reticularis) | Eaten raw or fried, it tastes like peanut butter | [107] | |
| mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) | Made into insect snacks and insect oil | [108] | |
| Hymenoptera | ant (Pheidole megacephala) | Roast or serve as a sweet dish | [109,110] |
| honey bee (Bee) and wasps (Wasp) | Collect honey, larvae and pupae for roasting and frying | [109] | |
| Orthoptera | cricket (Acheta domesticus) | Eat whole by cooking or make into snacks | [111] |
| Grasshoppers (Sphenarium purpurascens) and grasshopper (locusts) | Roast, fry, make soup or stew | [112,113] | |
| Isoptera | Termite (Macrotermes bellicosus) | Grilled or fried for a crispy texture | [105] |
| Hemiptera | cicada (Cicadidae) | boil or fry | [114] |
| stinkbug (Encosternumdelgorguei) | grate into paste | [115] | |
| Lepidoptera | caterpillars (Clanis bilineata) and silkworms (Bombyx mori) | Fried, baked, boiled; worm tea (made from eating the feces excreted by certain types of plants, mostly consumed in China) | [116] |