"Bugs" news and stories

Did you catch the guy eating toasted cicadas on The Colbert Report last night? David Gracer, a Rhode Island writing teacher, is on a quest to convince chefs to cook with insects, claiming that bugs offer more edible protein per pound than beef cattle.

Lots of cultures eat insects. I've enjoyed tiny grasshoppers, known as chapulines, in Oaxaca, Mexico. Slathered in guacamole and rolled in a tortilla, they were salty and undistinguished-tasting. Toasted and tossed with salt and chili powder, they were like corn nuts with legs. Cicadas, earthworms, crickets - bring 'em on.

Colbert was not convinced though. "I might ask one of my writers to eat a bug," he said. "Let me check their contract."

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Generally, the scariest thing about amusement parks is not the haunted house or the gravity-defying roller coaster. It's the greasy, overpriced food - and when the funnel cakes are the only thing drawing people in, you know that there has to be a change. Six Flags is using some scary food as a way to attract customers to their parks during their Halloween Fright-Fest celebrations. The promotion entails eating a live Madagascar Hissing Cockroach in exchange for front-of-the-line passes at some parks, including Six Flags Great America, although at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, eating a roach will get you free admission.

To no one's surprise, PETA is not thrilled with this promotion, but some theme park visitors are loving it. "They do taste like chicken," said one visitor. An eight grader at Great America said "I've been here too many time, I just want to eat cockroaches."

You'll have to check with your nearest Six Flags to see if they're offering the deal. Six Flags representatives said that those with shellfish allergies might want to avoid the roaches, though there are no other problems associated with eating them.

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Two Milford, Mass., girls got more than they bargained for when they shared a Hershey's Symphony bar laden with what are thought to have been moth larvae. Employees of the Walgreens where the chocolate was sold quickly removed the rest of the bars from shelves to find that they too had bug problems. The larvae aren't so much a health risk as a disgusting nuisance, according to a local health official quoted in a recent Metro West Daily News article. Still, the girls and their family claim the incident left them feeling ill.