Grubs

grubs of various insects come into the category of insects as food.

However, grub is an imprecise term, meaning larva, especially but not exclusively of beetles. It is the grubs of beetles which are dealt with here. (For the larvae of butterflies, see caterpillars and silkworm; and for those of certain Australian moths see witchetty grubs. Bee grubs are also eaten in some places.)

An outstanding example of consumption of beetle grubs is given in the entry for cockchafers (which are scarabeid beetles). There are, however, numerous other examples, some involving advance preparations of a kind sufficient to demonstrate that the grubs are counted as a delicacy. Thus in Japan the grubs of a longhorn beetle are marinated in soy sauce before being grilled (broiled). And Schwabe (1979) records that in Samoa beetle grubs are fed on coconut shavings for a day or two, then wrapped in a banana leaf and roasted over charcoal.