Chapter 2. Insect Foods of North American Indigenous Populations ...

Chapter 223 of 68 9/20/2012 1:34 PMsimilar spellings, depending on the tribe, and they were widely traded. Several investigators have concluded thatthe pandora moth provided a significantly greater return for effort expended than did plant resources.Arctiidae (tiger moths, etc.)Arctia caja americana Harris, larvaSee Powers (1877a). Powers reported two species of "Arctia," but according to Arnett (1985: 605), A.caja americana is the only North American representative of the genus.Lasiocampidae (tent caterpillars)Malacosoma spp., larvaeAccording to Essig (1949), the hairy tent caterpillars of North America, especially California, which wereabundant in the spring, "were singed to remove the hairs and roasted before the fire by the Indians." Thesecaterpillars belong to the genus Malacosoma.Megathymidae (giant skippers)Megathymus yuccae Boisduval & Leconte, larvaAccording to Ebeling (1986: 364-365), the fat larvae of giant skipper butterflies, which develop in agaveand yucca and are up to 2 inches long, were often roasted and eaten as a delicacy. The best known Californiaspecies is Agathymus stephensi which burrows in leaves of Agave deserti and pupates in a chamber near the baseof the leaf, after constructing a "trap door" through which the adult can later escape. Throughout the Southwest,giant skipper larvae were roasted and eaten by the Indians, and Ebeling notes that one of the wide-rangingspecies in mountains and deserts is the Navajo giant skipper, Megathymus yuccae navaho. Ebeling cites one useof agave which, though not relevant to food, shows the intimate knowledge and ingenuity with which the Indiansmade use of their resources: "At the end of each agave leaf was a hard, needlelike thorn. If it was carefullydetached, it came out of the leaf with several feet of fiber attached to it. This made a natural needle and thread.Set into wooden handles with asphaltum, the thorn could be used as an awl to facilitate basket making."Noctuidae (noctuids)Heliothis zea Boddie, larvaHomoncocnemis fortis Grote, larvaSpodoptera frugiperda Smith, larvaBarrett (1936) describes an "army worm" used as food by the Pomo of California. It's about 2 1/2 incheslong, almost hairless, feeds exclusively on ash, and appears in vast numbers once every several years. TheIndians harvest the caterpillars by digging an ingenious and intricate system of pits and trenches, the top edges ofwhich they line with sand. The sand both helps to cause the caterpillars to tumble in and then prevents themfrom crawling back out. According to Barrett, "It was really a red-letter day in any Pomo community when thislittle caterpillar made his appearance, and the Indians made this the occasion not only for an immediate feast butthey stored for winter use as large quantities as possible of the dried caterpillars." The caterpillars are killed byplacing them in a vessel of cold water, where they quickly drown. They are then roasted in hot ashes or areboiled and are devoured on the spot or spread out to dry in the sun for winter use. The male caterpillars arecalled li'baiya, the females li'mata. Several hundred pounds could be gathered in a day. The Northern Pomoapparently collected this same species with great ceremony and solemnity, but that was not the case with thecentral Pomo studied by Barrett.Swezey (1978) deduces that the armyworm reported earlier by Barrett (1936) was probably the noctuid,Homoncocnemis fortis (Grote). Swezey states, based on earlier accounts, that this species causes outbreaks withattendent defoliation of ash trees (Fraxinus latifolia) every 6-10 years. The Indians relished these almosthairless larvae which they dried and roasted. One Indian woman was quoted: "And when they were good anddry, I used to grab them and eat them. Gee, that was good."Ebeling (1986: 26) includes the larvae of the corn earworm, Heliothis zea, and the fall armyworm,Spodoptera frugiperda, among the insects used as food by Indians of the arid areas of the West.Saturniidae (giant silk moths)Coloradia pandora Blake, larva, pupaHyalophora (= Platysamia; = Samia) euryalus Boisduval, larva (See Essig 1958, Arnett 1985)