Excerpt: According to the British Museum Catalogue, this curious and interesting little work was first printed in 1885. F. S. Bodenheimer devotes several pages to it in his Insects as Human Food, and notes that the  booklet has now [1951] almost disappeared. In London it was apparently only available at the British Museum, where it was destroyed by bombing. The only copy to be found by the author was in the University Library at Oxford . . .  I have located no copies in the United States except the one at the USDA Library. Due to its extreme rarity, and its timeliness now that our population explosion and dwindling resources have given us a rather unpalatable source of \u27food for thought\u27, Why Not Ear Insects? is well worth reprinting, and E. W. Classey has performed the service

Wilkinson, Roland S

English

Valparaiso University

The Great Lakes Entomologist Volume 1 Number 8 -- June 1968 Number 8 -- June 1968 Article 7 June 1968 Why Not Eat Insects? Vincent M. Holt. Hanworth, Middlesex: reprinted by E. W. Classey, 1967. 99 pp. $2.10. Roland S. Wilkinson Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle  Part of the Entomology Commons Recommended Citation Wilkinson, Roland S. 1968. "Why Not Eat Insects? Vincent M. Holt. Hanworth, Middlesex: reprinted by E. W. Classey, 1967. 99 pp. $2.10.," The Great Lakes Entomologist, vol 1 (8) Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol1/iss8/7 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Biology at ValpoScholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Great Lakes Entomologist by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at scholar@valpo.edu. 290 THE MICHIGAN ENTOMOLOGIST Vol. 1, No. 8 of capture, precise locality, and present location of specimen in case a ques- tion of determination arises. 'Early' and 'late' records are useful, as is infor- mation about habitat, foodplants and biology. Above all, adherence to scrup- ulous standards of recording data is necessary in all communications. And, no matter how common an insect may be locally, information about its appear- ance may be of value. (In the most recent list of Michigan butterfli,es, Pieris rapae L. was recorded from only 49 counties, not including Jackson, St. Joseph, Allegan, Ottawa, Lapeer and others. The example is homely but obvious.) Observing, studying and collecting insects may be an eminently satisfying pastime, but drawers of dried specimens contribute little to the advance of knowledge unless individual insects are properly identified, furnished with complete and accurate data, and made known to specialists who can compile necessary statistics from individual records. The task is an enormous one, but only through sustained, collective and immediate effort will the recording of America's insect population be accomplished before it is too late. R. S. W. REVIEWS OF RECENT LITERATURE WHY NOT EAT INSECTS? Vincent M. Holt. Hanworth, Middlesex: reprinted by E. W. Classey, 1967. 99 pp. $2.10. According to the British Museum Catalogue, this curious and interesting little work was first printed in 1885. F. S. Bodenheimer devotes several pages to it in his Insects as Human Food, and notes that the "booklet has nowC19511 almost disappeared. In London it was apparently only available a t  the British Museum, where it was destroyed by bombing. The only copy to be found by the author was in the University Library a t  Oxford . . . "I have located no copies in the United States except the one at  the USDA Library. Due to its extreme rarity, and its timeliness now that our population explosion and dwindling resources have given us a rather unpalatable source of 'food for thought', Why .Vat Ear Insects? is well worth reprinting, and E. W. Classey has performed the service. Holt's argument for insects as human food is partially directed a t  our com- mon habit of praising one animal product as a delicacy, while expressing re- vulsion a t  the thought of eating another. We enjoy snails, eels, raw oysters and birds' nest soup; why not insect larvae, most of which feed on wholesome sub- stances, and are quite delicious when propei-ly cooked? Indeed, why not 'turn the tables' on the larvae by eating them before they eat our crops? Of course many primitive peoples eat insects, but Holt points out that earli- e r  'civilized' cultures have done so, and our own prejudice against this whole- some food is based largely upon irrationality. Not only would insects furnish a supply of food to vary the diet of the poor, but the author presents a series of examples to show how insect dishes can be introduced into more elaborate menus. Now that we are facing conditions outlined so well by Georg Borgstrom in The tiunprl Planet, we may have to face up to Holt's logic before long. Of course, as Bodenheimer points out, Holt was by no means the first to advocate 1Wilkinson: Why Not Eat Insects?Published by ValpoScholar, 19681968 THE MICHIGAN ENTOMOLOGIST 291 such measures, yet his argument is presented in such a clever and entertaining way that this reprint will appeal to a wide public. It is attractively printed in facsimile, with blue wrappers reproducing Holt's cover design. All of our read- ers will find Why Not Eat Insects? thought-provoking and well worth its modest price. R. S. W. INSECT COLONIZATION AND MASS PRODUCTION. Edited by Carroll N. Smith. New York and London: Academic Press, 1966. xxii, 618pp. $27.00. The mass production of insects appears to have started with the require- ments of the rod-and-line fisherman for bait. For many years, using crude but effective methods, an individual could earn a living rearing millions of blowflies a week to meet this demand. The recent rise of the insecticide indus- try-and now, biological control--has meant an ever-increasing demand for many insect species. Not only does the testing of insecticides demand very large numbers of standard insects, but their release, either a s  parasites to control an economic pest, or a s  sterile males to 'use up' wild females, involves the lab- oratory production of millions of specimens per week. The demand for these multitudes of insects has been met, and this book ably describes the scientific methods now employed. For convenience the book has been divided into five sections. The first deals with Animal Parasites--the blood sucking group--Lice, Fleas, Mosquitoes. These are the species which can carry and transmit disease to man and the more important species are dealt with in a concise manner. The second section describes the methods used for Domestic and Stored Produce pests; the third, and longest section, Phyto- phagous insects; the fourth, Parasites, Predators and Pathogens, and the fifth, Insects by the Million, contains concise and detailed accounts of the rearing of Screw-worms and Tephritid flies for eradication programmes. It is the third section that is the most informative. In a sense this section overlaps those on each side of it, for artificial diets are used for stored product pests and part four also involves phytophagous species and artificial diets. Although headed 'Phytophagous Insects' which is true of the species described when in the wild, in the laboratory it is no longer always so, since many of them are now reared on artificial diets. The use of such diets for stored product pests is well established; the rearing of cockroaches on dog biscuits is one such example. The use of biscuits for phytophagous insects on the scale here described is something comparatively new, and represents a real breakthrough. A great drawback of so many insects for any research project has been that their availability is often limited to their normal seasonal appearance. It has long been known that diapause can be prevented, but only recently has it been possible to take full advantage of this, since lack of winter food has prevented year-round rearing. This can now be done by the use of artificial or synthetic foods. The various methods and diets employed for different species are quite clearly set out, and one of the great advantages of the book is that it brings together in one source much scattered information on the subject, enabling diets to be compared a t  a glance. In the majority of cases they are  set out in a way that can be 2The Great Lakes Entomologist, Vol. 1, No. 8 [1968], Art. 7https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol1/iss8/7

Why Not Eat Insects? Vincent M. Holt. Hanworth, Middlesex: reprinted by E. W. Classey, 1967. 99 pp. $2.10.

ValpoScholar

The Great Lakes Entomologist 
Volume 1 
Number 8 -- June 1968 Number 8 -- June 1968 Article 7 
June 1968 
Why Not Eat Insects? Vincent M. Holt. Hanworth, Middlesex: 
reprinted by E. W. Classey, 1967. 99 pp. $2.10. 
Roland S. Wilkinson 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle 
 Part of the Entomology Commons 
Recommended Citation 
Wilkinson, Roland S. 1968. "Why Not Eat Insects? Vincent M. Holt. Hanworth, Middlesex: reprinted by E. 
W. Classey, 1967. 99 pp. $2.10.," The Great Lakes Entomologist, vol 1 (8) 
Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol1/iss8/7 
This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Biology at ValpoScholar. It has 
been accepted for inclusion in The Great Lakes Entomologist by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For 
more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at scholar@valpo.edu. 
290 THE MICHIGAN ENTOMOLOGIST Vol. 1, No. 8 
of capture, precise locality, and present location of specimen in case a ques- 
tion of determination arises. 'Early' and 'late' records are useful, as is infor- 
mation about habitat, foodplants and biology. Above all, adherence to scrup- 
ulous standards of recording data is necessary in all communications. And, no 
matter how common an insect may be locally, information about its appear- 
ance may be of value. (In the most recent list of Michigan butterfli,es, Pieris 
rapae L. was recorded from only 49 counties, not including Jackson, St. Joseph, 
Allegan, Ottawa, Lapeer and others. The example is homely but obvious.) 
Observing, studying and collecting insects may be an eminently satisfying 
pastime, but drawers of dried specimens contribute little to the advance of 
knowledge unless individual insects are properly identified, furnished with 
complete and accurate data, and made known to specialists who can compile 
necessary statistics from individual records. The task is an enormous one, but 
only through sustained, collective and immediate effort will the recording of 
America's insect population be accomplished before it is too late. 
R. S. W. 
REVIEWS OF RECENT LITERATURE 
WHY NOT EAT INSECTS? Vincent M. Holt. Hanworth, Middlesex: reprinted 
by E. W. Classey, 1967. 99 pp. $2.10. 
According to the British Museum Catalogue, this curious and interesting little 
work was first printed in 1885. F. S. Bodenheimer devotes several pages to it in 
his Insects as Human Food, and notes that the "booklet has nowC19511 almost 
disappeared. In London it was apparently only available a t  the British Museum, 
where it was destroyed by bombing. The only copy to be found by the author was 
in the University Library a t  Oxford . . . "I have located no copies in the United 
States except the one at  the USDA Library. Due to its extreme rarity, and its 
timeliness now that our population explosion and dwindling resources have 
given us a rather unpalatable source of 'food for thought', Why .Vat Ear Insects? 
is well worth reprinting, and E. W. Classey has performed the service. 
Holt's argument for insects as human food is partially directed a t  our com- 
mon habit of praising one animal product as a delicacy, while expressing re- 
vulsion a t  the thought of eating another. We enjoy snails, eels, raw oysters and 
birds' nest soup; why not insect larvae, most of which feed on wholesome sub- 
stances, and are quite delicious when propei-ly cooked? Indeed, why not 'turn 
the tables' on the larvae by eating them before they eat our crops? 
Of course many primitive peoples eat insects, but Holt points out that earli- 
e r  'civilized' cultures have done so, and our own prejudice against this whole- 
some food is based largely upon irrationality. Not only would insects furnish 
a supply of food to vary the diet of the poor, but the author presents a series of 
examples to show how insect dishes can be introduced into more elaborate 
menus. 
Now that we are facing conditions outlined so well by Georg Borgstrom in 
The tiunprl Planet, we may have to face up to Holt's logic before long. Of 
course, as Bodenheimer points out, Holt was by no means the first to advocate 
1
Wilkinson: Why Not Eat Insects?
Published by ValpoScholar, 1968
1968 THE MICHIGAN ENTOMOLOGIST 291 
such measures, yet his argument is presented in such a clever and entertaining 
way that this reprint will appeal to a wide public. It is attractively printed in 
facsimile, with blue wrappers reproducing Holt's cover design. All of our read- 
ers will find Why Not Eat Insects? thought-provoking and well worth its modest 
price. 
R. S. W. 
INSECT COLONIZATION AND MASS PRODUCTION. Edited by Carroll N. 
Smith. New York and London: Academic Press, 1966. xxii, 618pp. $27.00. 
The mass production of insects appears to have started with the require- 
ments of the rod-and-line fisherman for bait. For many years, using crude 
but effective methods, an individual could earn a living rearing millions of 
blowflies a week to meet this demand. The recent rise of the insecticide indus- 
try-and now, biological control--has meant an ever-increasing demand for 
many insect species. Not only does the testing of insecticides demand very 
large numbers of standard insects, but their release, either a s  parasites to control 
an economic pest, or a s  sterile males to 'use up' wild females, involves the lab- 
oratory production of millions of specimens per week. 
The demand for these multitudes of insects has been met, and this book 
ably describes the scientific methods now employed. For convenience the book 
has been divided into five sections. The first deals with Animal Parasites--the 
blood sucking group--Lice, Fleas, Mosquitoes. These are the species which 
can carry and transmit disease to man and the more important species are 
dealt with in a concise manner. The second section describes the methods used 
for Domestic and Stored Produce pests; the third, and longest section, Phyto- 
phagous insects; the fourth, Parasites, Predators and Pathogens, and the fifth, 
Insects by the Million, contains concise and detailed accounts of the rearing 
of Screw-worms and Tephritid flies for eradication programmes. 
It is the third section that is the most informative. In a sense this section 
overlaps those on each side of it, for artificial diets are used for stored product 
pests and part four also involves phytophagous species and artificial diets. 
Although headed 'Phytophagous Insects' which is true of the species described 
when in the wild, in the laboratory it is no longer always so, since many of 
them are now reared on artificial diets. The use of such diets for stored product 
pests is well established; the rearing of cockroaches on dog biscuits is one 
such example. The use of biscuits for phytophagous insects on the scale here 
described is something comparatively new, and represents a real breakthrough. 
A great drawback of so many insects for any research project has been that 
their availability is often limited to their normal seasonal appearance. It has 
long been known that diapause can be prevented, but only recently has it been 
possible to take full advantage of this, since lack of winter food has prevented 
year-round rearing. 
This can now be done by the use of artificial or synthetic foods. The various 
methods and diets employed for different species are quite clearly set out, and 
one of the great advantages of the book is that it brings together in one source 
much scattered information on the subject, enabling diets to be compared 
a t  a glance. In the majority of cases they are  set out in a way that can be 
2
The Great Lakes Entomologist, Vol. 1, No. 8 [1968], Art. 7
https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol1/iss8/7


https://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1074&context=tgle

Why Not Eat Insects? Vincent M. Holt. Hanworth, Middlesex: reprinted by E. W. Classey, 1967. 99 pp. $2.10.

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