Bug Babe

I am professional bug keeper and collector. My personal collection includes 17 tarantulas, a vinegaroon and a dubia cockroach colony. I also work with several additional species. I want to share my passion for bugs with the world and prove how immensely important and fascinating they are! (NOTE: For the purposes of this blog I am using the term "bug" in a general way to refer primarily to terrestrial arthropods. In entomology the word bug refers to an order of insects distinguished by having piercing and sucking mouthparts.)

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My boyfriend caught this cool Blinded Sphinx Moth (Paonius excaecata) for me to photograph.

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This is a neat little flat-backed millipede (probably Harpaphe haydeniana) that crossed our path while we were hiking in Mount Hood National Forest.

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BUGS FOR DINNER!

In honor of Thanksgiving I am going to talk about bugs and insects as a food source! The practice of eating insects is called entomophagy. There are more than 1,400 types of edible insects in the world. Eating bugs as a source of protein has many advantages, especially compared to eating less taboo meats like beef, lamb, pork and chicken. 

One of the advantages to insect consumption is the nutritional value. Generally, insects have more protein, less calories and less fat than equivalent amounts of beef. Some insects, such as grasshoppers, have only about 5 grams less protein than the equivalent amount of beef and about three times more calcium than beef. Other insects, like crickets, have less than half the calories of beef and about a quarter of the fat, however crickets have about half the protein of beef. The insect with the highest amount of protein is the giant water beetle, and close behind is the dung beetle. In my opinion, the biggest advantages of insects as a food source are the environmental and economic benefits. Insects in general are much easier to raise than livestock. They have a much higher feed to meat ratio than livestock, meaning, it takes much less feed to produce insect meat. For every ten kilograms of feed you can produce between seven and nine kilograms of insect meat compared to only one kilogram of beef for the same amount of feed. This saves a lot of money and also is much more sustainable since less space is needed to produce crops to make animal feed. Raising insects also takes up much less space than raising livestock. According to my sources, many insects are also not bad tasting and can be incorporated into food in many ways. You can even dry insects, crush them up, and make flour out of them. One source said that male bee larvae tasted similar to honey bacon and another said that Giant Water beetles have a flavor similar to scallops when fried or roasted. One of my uncle’s also once said that tiny carpenter ants, which my little cousins were feeding to him live while laughing hysterically, tasted like pepper (yes, my family is weird.) Still grossed out? Bugs are used as a food source in many parts of the world and have been since the beginnings of our species. There are even references to eating bugs in the Bible (locusts and honey). Though the practice of eating bugs, called entomophagy, is seen as disgusting in the U.S., we have all eaten a substantial amount of bugs without knowing it. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration allows for a certain amount of insects in food, for example, tomato sauce can have 30 fly eggs per 100 grams and chocolate can have up to 60 insect parts per 100 grams. Also, during the average lifetime, a person consumes about seventy insects and ten spiders while sleeping. Many see bugs as the food source of the future. One U.S. company, called Entom Foods, is trying to get Americans to seriously consider eating bugs and aims to introduce them into Western culture in ways that we can more easily accept them. For example they are currently trying to find a way to make processed bug meats. They intend to use bugs that are already farmed commercially to feed people’s pets, such as crickets, grasshoppers and meal worms.

If you are eager to try bugs for yourself, there are many recipes online and in some of my links below (the second link is best for recipes and preparation). As a general rule of thumb please try to avoid brightly colored bugs which are often poisonous, and play it safe and cook them before you eat them because some bugs carry diseases or contain parasites. There are always exceptions to rules so please, please, please do your research first and DO NOT just go out in your garden and start munching on bugs.

Personally, after all I have read about it, I am very intrigued and intend to try eating bugs and making some bug recipes. I will be sure to film or write about my experiences cooking bugs to let you all know how it goes. Until then bon appetit! Sources: http://news.discovery.com/animals/edible-insects-getting-to-the-good-stuff-111122.html http://www.manataka.org/page160.html http://webecoist.com/2009/07/07/eco-friendly-protein-edible-bugs/ http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/survival/wilderness/edible-bug1.htm http://thatgirlisfunny.com/2011/03/ever-eaten-beetle-studies-show-grasshoppers-provide-more-protein-than-beef/ http://www.rusticgirls.com/animals/bug-facts.html

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Here is one of my gorgeous Pumpkin Patch tarantulas, Hapalopus sp. Colombia. They are a dwarf species and generally stay under three inches. They are also super fast!

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Silver Argiope (Argiope argentata) A fun fact about these is they often create an X shape in their webs that follows the lines of their legs.

I had the privilege of visiting the Spider Pavilion at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles today and I photographed a variety of stunning orb weaver species. I'm a happy Bug Babe...

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Here is a freshly molted exoskeleton of my Chaco Golden Knee tarantula (Grammostola pulchripes)

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Here is a cool "Sweat Bee" that I found while bug hunting in Estacada, Oregon this past July. I'm guessing that this one is Agapostemon virescens or the Metallic Green Bee.

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I recieved this really neat identification request from my friend, Eric Francek, in Southern CA. This is an arachnid in the Harvestmen order (Opiliones). My specific guess is Protolophus singularis. Harvestmen are not considered spiders. Notable differences from spiders include lack of venom glands and silk glands.They can also consume chunks of food instead of only liquids. It is also interesting to note that the extra long second pair of legs on Protolophus singularis, has been developed for sensing, similar to a pair of antennae.

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American Oil Beetle (Meloe americanus)

I was SO EXCITED to find a bug last night that I have NEVER seen or heard of before! This crazy looking insect is a female American Oil Beetle (Meloe americanus) and it happens to be INSANELY INTERESTING. I did lightly touch the abdomen of the beetle to coax it into the light but I'm glad that I didn't actually grab it because they are a type of Blister beetle! They produce the chemical Cantharidin in their blood and they defend themselves with it by bleeding from their leg joints. The Cantharidin can cause humans to develop blisters on their skin and it can be deadly if consumed. The female oil beetles cannot produce Cantharidin as adults and rely on the supply that they produce in their larval stage. They can also re-new their supply by mating since the adult males still produce Cantharidin and he transfers some of the chemical to her during copulation! Adult oil beetles eat plants but the beetle's larvae feed on the larvae of ground-dwelling bees. The beetle larvae cluster together and produce pheromones to trick male bees into thinking they are a female bee ready to mate. The beetle larvae then hitch a ride on the male and can be transferred to the actual female bee with whom he ends up mating. The female bee unknowingly will take the beetle larvae to her nest where they will eat her young and her stores of pollen. Oh the fascinating brutality of nature! The oil beetle may seem villainous but they may have the power to help us. A study has shown that the chemical that they can produce in their blood, Cantharidin, shows promise in killing cancer. Very cool.

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Here is a gorgeous Western Yellow Jacket (Vespula pensylvanica) that I found in Estacada, Oregon. She is likely female. These are common pests here.

I identified it as V. pensylvanica by the yellow rings circling the eyes which are normally not found in other look-alike yellow jacket species. Though, it should be noted that sometimes the male Western Yellow Jackets lack the yellow eye-ring altogether.

These wasps like to eat things like carrion, rotting fruit and other insects. They can be aggressive and predatory and should not be mistaken with the generally non- aggressive honey bee.

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European Mantis Identification I found this lovely lady here in the Portland OR area. I identified her as a European mantis (Mantis religiosa) from the black and white bullseye spots (not pictured) on the insides of her "arms" (front coxa). She felt threatened at one point and waved them at me. As indicated by their name, they are native to Europe, however they are widespread in the United States. Females tend to be fatter than males but this one is so plump that I wonder if she will lay eggs soon. Generally female mantids have shorter wings and antennae than males. Adult females have only six abdominal segments and adult males have eight.

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Wooly Bear Caterpillar Identification I found this cute Wooly Bear Caterpillar last week. It will eventually turn into an Isabella Tiger Moth (Pyrrharctia isabella) (Second image is borrowed from Google). These caterpillars can hibernate through the winter and tolerate extremely cold temperatures by producing their own anti-freeze, called glycerol. There is an old wives tale claiming that you can predict the length of an upcoming winter by looking at the stripe on the caterpillar. However, this rumor is false.

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Here are two photos of Zmeef, the very first tarantula that I ever bought. She is a Caribena versicolor tarantula, their common name is Antilles Pinktoe. They start out as tiny little blue slings and slowly but surely get their mature coloring. She has grown so much!

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Check out this awesome dinner time photo that Savannah Boan Swamp Girl sent me! I believe the spider is a Pantropical Huntsman spider (Heteropoda venatoria).

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“The animal that causes the most human deaths is the mosquito.”

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Chaco Golden Knee Tarantula (Grammostola pulchripes)  Mating

Tarantula sex is pretty exciting. This is my male Chaco golden knee, Romeo (the skinny one). I tried to mate him with the new Chaco female at my previous work at the Reptile Zoo. The male has to lift up the female to access little pouches underneath her with his pedipalps (front-mini-leg-like appendages) in order to deposit his man-juice. I'm using the forceps to prevent the female from biting down on him and killing him. The males often tap to court the female (Romeo is very good with the ladies.)

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Moths vs Butterflies

I found a helpful little chart! Keep in mind there are some exceptions! For example; sunset moths have many extremely bright colors!