Bugged

by David MacNeal

  Yang, Yu, et al. “Biodegradation and Mineralization of Polystyrene and Plastic-Eating Mealworms: Part 1. Chemical and Physical Characterization and Isotopic Tests.” Environmental Science & Technology 49 (2015): 12080–86.

  Chapter Seven: You Just Squashed the Cure for Cancer

  Compared to other bug topics, research about the medical and robotic benefits of bugs is scarce. That’s why for this chapter I must highlight just how useful several sources were. Aaron T. Dossey’s Natural Products Reports paper called “Insects and Their Chemical Weaponry” and E. Paul Cherniack’s Alternative Medicine Review papers “Bugs as Drugs,” parts one and two, were main go-to sources. May R. Berenbaum’s book The Earwig’s Tail was helpful here and throughout the book, as were many of her columns and much of her research. And Jay Harman’s book The Shark’s Paintbrush was a nice find as there isn’t much out there related to biomimicry.

  Berenbaum, May R. The Earwig’s Tail: A Modern Bestiary of Multi-Legged Legends. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009.

  Bozkurt, Alper, Robert F. Gilmour, and Amit Lal. “Balloon-Assisted Flight of Radio-Controlled Insect Biobots.” IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering 56:9 (2009): 2304–7.

  Cherniack, E. Paul. “Bugs as Drugs, Part 1: Insects. The ‘New’ Alternative Medicine for the 21st Century?” Alternative Medicine Review 15:2 (2010): 124–35.

  ____. “Bugs as Drugs, Part 2: Worms, Leeches, Scorpions, Snails, Ticks, Centipedes, and Spiders.” Alternative Medicine Review 16:1 (2011): 50–58.

  Chiadini, Francesco, et al. “Insect Eyes Inspire Improved Solar Cells.” Optics and Photonics News 22:4 (2011): 38–43.

  Cohen, David. “Painless Needle Copies Mosquito’s Stinger.” New Scientist, April 4, 2002. https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2121-painless-needle-copies-mosquitos-stinger/

  Cornwell, P. B. The Cockroach: A Laboratory Insect and an Industrial Pest. London: Hutchinson, 1968.

  Cowan, Frank. Curious Facts in the History of Insects, Including Spiders and Scorpions. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1865.

  Cruse, Holk. “Robotic Experiments on Insect Walking.” Artificial Ethology. Owen Holland and David McFarland, eds. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.

  Dardevet, Lucie, et al. “Chlorotoxin: A Helpful Natural Scorpion Peptide to Diagnose Glioma and Fight Tumor Invasion.” Toxins 7:4 (2015): 1079–1101.

  Dossey, Aaron T. “Insects and Their Chemical Weaponry: New Potential for Drug Discovery.” Natural Products Reports 27:12 (2010): 1737–57.

  Eisner, Thomas. For Love of Insects. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2003.

  Eldor, A., M. Orevi, and M. Rigbi. “The Role of Leech in Medical Therapeutics.” Blood Reviews 10 (1990): 201–9.

  Full, Robert. “The Secrets of Nature’s Grossest Creatures, Channeled into Robots.” TED, March 2014. https://www.ted.com/talks/robert_full_the_secrets_of_nature_s_grossest_creatures_channeled_into_robots

  Graule, M. A., et al. “Perching and Takeoff of a Robotic Insect on Overhangs Using Switchable Electrostatic Adhesion.” Science 352:6288 (2016): 978–82.

  Harman, Jay. The Shark’s Paintbrush: Biomimicry and How Nature Is Inspiring Innovation. Ashland, OR: White Cloud Press, 2013.

  Herkewitz, William. “Found: The First Mechanical Gear in a Living Creature.” Popular Mechanics, September 12, 2013. http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a9449/the-first-gear-discovered-in-nature-15916433/

  Izumi, Hayato, et al. “Realistic Imitation of Mosquito’s Proboscis: Electrochemically Etched Sharp and Jagged Needles and Their Cooperative Inserting Motion.” Sensors and Actuators A: Physical 165:1 (2011): 115–23.

  Jallouk, Andrew P., et al. “Nanoparticle Incorporation of Melittin Reduces Sperm and Vaginal Epithelium Cytotoxicity.” PLoS ONE 9:4 (2014): e95411.

  Koerner, Brendan L. “One Doctor’s Quest to Save People by Injecting Them with Scorpion Venom.” Wired, June 24, 2014. https://www.wired.com/2014/06/scorpion-venom/

  Latif, Tahmid, and Alper Bozkurt. “Line Following Terrestrial Insect Biobots.” Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 2012 Annual Conference of the IEEE (2012): 972–75.

  Lee, Simon, et al. “Cockroaches and Locusts: Physicians’ Answer to Infectious Diseases.” International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents 37:3 (2011): 279–80.

  Leu, Chelsea. “Scientists Are Using Tarantula Venom to Learn How Your Body Hurts.” Wired, June 6, 2016. https://www.wired.com/2016/06/tarantula-toxins-teach-us-science-pain/

  Marks, Paul. “Mosquito Needle Helps Take the Sting Out of Injections.” New Scientist, March 16, 2011. https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20928044-900-mosquito-needle-helps-take-sting-out-of-injections/

  Marquis, Don. Archy and Mehitabel. New York: Anchor Books, 1970.

  McKenna, Maryn. “The Coming Cost of Superbugs: 10 Million Deaths per Year.” Wired, December 15, 2014. https://www.wired.com/2014/12/oneill-rpt-amr/

  McNeil, Donald G., Jr. “Slithery Medical Symbolism: Worm or Snake? One or Two?” New York Times, March 8, 2005. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/08/health/slithery-medical-symbolism-worm-or-snake-one-or-two.html

  Moore, Malcolm. “Cockroaches: The New Miracle Cure for China’s Ailments.” Daily Telegraph, October 24, 2013. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10399443/Cockroaches-the-new-miracle-cure-for-Chinas-ailments.html

  Morgan, C. Lloyd. “The Beetle in Motion.” Nature 35:888 (1886): 7.

  Nikolic, Vojin. “Low-Sweep and Composite Planform Movable Wing Tip Strakes.” 46th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, January 2008.

  Olson, Jim. “Tumor Paint.” PopTech 2013, Camden, Maine. https://poptech.org/popcasts/jim_olson_tumor_paint

  Piore, Adam. “Rise of the Insect Drones.” Popular Science, January 2014: 38–43.

  “Project Violet: About Us.” Fred Hutch. https://www.fredhutch.org/en/labs/clinical/projects/project-violet/about-us.html

  Rains, Glen C., Jeffery K. Tomberlin, and Don Kulasiri. “Using Insect Sniffing Devices for Detection.” Trends in Biotechnology 26:6 (2008): 288–94.

  Ratcliffe, Norman, Patricia Azambuja, and Cicero Brasileiro Mello. “Recent Advances in Developing Insect Natural Products as Potential Modern Day Medicines.” Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine,article ID 904958 (2014). https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2014/904958/

  Ray, John. “Concerning Some Uncommon Observations and Experiments Made with an Acid Juice to Be Found in Ants.” Philosophical Transactions 5 (1670): 2069–77.

  “The Rod of Asclepius and Caduceus: Two Ancient Symbols.” Florence Inferno, June 27, 2016. http://www.florenceinferno.com/rod-of-asclepius-and-caduceus-symbols/

  Roy, Spandita, Sumana Saha, and Partha Pal. “Insect Natural Products as Potential Source for Alternative Medicines: A Review.” World Scientific News 19 (2015): 80–94.

  Schmidt, Justin O. The Sting of the Wild. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016.

  Schmidt, Justin O., Murray S. Blum, and William L. Overal. “Hemolytic Activities of Stinging Insect Venoms.” Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology (1984): 155–60.

  Scholtz, Gerhard. “Scarab Beetles at the Interface of Wheel Invention in Nature and Culture?” Contributions to Zoology 77:3 (2008): 139–48.

  Schweid, Richard. The Cockroach Papers: A Compendium of History and Lore. New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 1999.

  Sherman, Ronald A., Charles E. Shapiro, and Ronald M. Yang. “Maggot Therapy for Problematic Wounds: Uncommon and Off-Label Applications.” Advances in Skin & Wound Care 20:11 (2007): 602–10.

  Usherwood, James R., and Fritz-Olaf Lehmann. “Phasing of Dragonfly Wings Can Improve Aerodynamic Efficiency by Removing Swirl.” Journal of the Royal Society Interface 5 (2008): 1303–1307.

  Walker, Simon M., et al. “In Vivo Time-Resolved Microtomography Reveals the Mechanics of the Blowfly Flight Motor.” PLoS Biology 12:3 (2014): e1001823.

  Watson, James T., et al. “Control of Obstacl
e Climbing in the Cockroach, Blaberus discoidalis: I. Kinematics.” Journal of Comparative Physiology 188 (2002): 39–53.

  Weiler, Nicholas. “Tarantula Toxins Offer Key Insights into Neuroscience of Pain.” UCSF News, June 6, 2016. https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2016/06/403166/tarantula-toxins-offer-key-insights-neuroscience-pain

  Wood, Robert, Radhika Nagpal, and Gu-Yeon Wei. “Flight of the RoboBees.” Scientific American 308:3 (2013): 60–65.

  Chapter Eight: Executives of Big Bug Biz

  The biggest debt of gratitude is owed to Akito Kawahara’s fantastic American Entomologist article subtitled “Entomology in Japan.” His research and, later, our informative interview not only aided me in this chapter but inspired a great documentary called Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo. Main sources for this chapter also came from: Debin Ma’s paper “Why Japan, Not China, Was the First to Develop in East Asia,” Nan-Yao Su’s interview and “Tokoyo no kami” paper, and Stuart Fleming’s “The Tale of the Cochineal.” Here I would also like to bring attention to Hugh Raffle’s Insectopedia. While it is referenced throughout the book, his coverage on the sport of cricket fighting was a big, awesome part of this chapter.

  Associated Press. “Bolivia, Peru Reject Use of Bugs in Cocaine Fight: War on Drugs: Latin Nations Want to Switch to Legal Crops, Not to Caterpillars or Worms to Eat Coca Leaves.” Los Angeles Times, February 22, 1990. http://articles.latimes.com/1990-02-22/news/mn-1722_1_coca-leaves

  Ballenger, Joe. “Cricket Virus Leads to Illegal Importation of Foreign Species for Pet Food.” Entomology Today, December 22, 2014. https://entomologytoday.org/2014/12/22/cricket-virus-leads-to-illegal-importation-of-foreign-species-for-pet-food/

  Berenbaum, May. “Buzzwords: Just Say ‘Notodontid’?” American Entomologist 37:4 (1991): 196–97.

  Daimon, Takaaki, et al. “The Silkworm Green b Locus Encodes a Quercetin 5-O-Glucosyltransferase that Produces Green Cocoons with UV-Shielding Properties.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107:25 (2010): 11471–76.

  Eugenides, Jeffrey. Middlesex. New York: Picador, 2003.

  Evans, Arthur V. What’s Bugging You?: A Fond Look at the Animals We Love to Hate. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2008.

  Fleming, Stuart. “The Tale of the Cochineal: Insect Farming in the New World.” Archaeology 36:5 (1983): 68–69, 79.

  Gebel, Erika. “Proteins Revealed in Fire Ant Venom.” Chemical & Engineering News, August 20, 2012. http://cen.acs.org/articles/90/web/2012/08/Proteins-Revealed-Fire-Ant-Venom.html

  Govindan, R., T. K. Narayanaswamy, and M. C. Devaiah. Pebrine Disease of Silkworm. Bangalore, India: UAS Offset Press, 1997.

  Hicks, Edward. Shellac: Its Origin and Applications. New York: Chemical Publishing Co., 1961.

  Hudak, Stephen. “Jumpin’ Jiminy! Virus Silences Cricket Farm.” Orlando Sentinel, June 21, 2010. http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2010-06-21/news/os-cricket-farm-bankruptcy-20100621_1_lucky-lure-cricket-farm-virus-bug

  Iizuka, Tetsuya, et al. “Colored Fluorescent Silk Made by Transgenic Silkworms.” Advanced Functional Materials 23 (2013): 5232–39.

  Kampmeier, Gail E., and Michael E. Irwin. “Commercialization of the Insects and Their Products.” Encyclopedia of Insects. Vincent H. Resh and Ring T. Cardé, eds. 2nd edition. Boston: Academic Press, 2009. 220–27.

  Kawahara, Akito Y. “Thirty-Foot Telescopic Nets, Bug Collecting Videogames, and Beetle Pets: Entomology in Modern Japan.” American Entomologist 53:3 (2007): 160–72.

  Kolar, Jana, et al. “Historical Iron Gall Ink Containing Documents: Properties Affecting Their Condition.” Analytica Chimica Acta 555 (2006): 167–74.

  “Learning the History.” World Heritage Site Tomioka Silk Mill. Tomioka City, Japan. http://www.tomioka-silk.jp.e.wv.hp.transer.com/tomioka-silk-mill/guide/history.html

  Ma, Debin. “Why Japan, Not China, Was the First to Develop in East Asia: Lessons from Sericulture, 1850–1937.” Economic Development and Cultural Change 52:2 (2004): 369–94.

  McConnaughey, Janet. “Virus Kills Hordes of Cricket Raised for Reptiles.” Associated Press, January 12, 2011. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20110112/us-food-and-farm-cricket-crisis/

  Parker, Rosemary. “Following Cricket Paralysis Virus Catastrophe, Top Hat Cricket Farm in Portage Rebuilds Its Business.” Michigan Live, January 19, 2012. http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2012/01/top_hat_cricket_farm_in_portag.html

  Parry, Ernest J. Shellac: Its Production, Manufacture, Chemistry, Analysis, Commerce and Uses. London: Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, 1935.

  “Plan to Eradicate Coca Would Use Caterpillars.” New York Times, February 20, 1990. http://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/20/us/plan-to-eradicate-coca-would-use-caterpillars.html

  Raffles, Hugh. Insectopedia. New York: Vintage Books, 2010.

  Shiva, M. P. Inventory of Forest Resources for Sustainable Management and Biodiversity Conservation. New Delhi, India: Indus Publishing, 1998.

  “Silkworm Diseases.” The Whole Story. Institut Pasteur, Paris, France, February 13, 2014.

  Su, Nan-Yao. “Tokoyo no Kami: A Caterpillar Worshiped by a Cargo Cult of Ancient Japan.” American Entomologist 60:3 (2014): 182–88.

  Tabunoki, Hiroko, et al. “A Carotenoid-Binding Protein (CBP) Plays a Crucial Role in Cocoon Pigmentation of Silkworm (Bombyx mori) Larvae.” FEBS Letters 567 (2004): 175–78.

  Takeda, Satoshi. “Bombyx mori.” Encyclopedia of Insects. Vincent H. Resh and Ring T. Cardé, eds. 2nd edition. Boston: Academic Press, 2009. 117–19.

  Theobald, Mary Miley. “Putting the Red in Redcoats.” Colonial Williamsburg Journal, Summer 2012. https://www.history.org/foundation/journal/summer12/dye.cfm

  Tomioka Silk Mill and Related Sites. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 2015. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1449

  Tsurumi, E. Patricia. Factory Girls: Women in the Thread Mills of Meiji Japan. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1990.

  Chapter Nine: Dining with Crickets

  In my initial research, one book in particular was extremely helpful: Daniella Martin’s Edible. Not only was it a big source triggering a large amount of research, but it served as a recipe book for “wax worm tacos.” Additionally, David George Gordon’s Eat-A-Bug Cookbook and over-the-phone interview were very helpful, as were Marianne Shockley’s interview and her coauthored chapter “Insects for Human Consumption.” Without a doubt, another gigantic resource was the United Nations’ report titled “Edible Insects,” which covers all the benefits of entomophagy.

  Ayieko, Monica, V. Oriaro, and I. A. Nyambuga. “Processed Products of Termites and Lake Flies: Improving Entomophagy for Food Security within the Lake Victoria Region.” African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development 10:2 (2010): 2085–98.

  Chang, David. “The Unified Theory of Deliciousness.” Wired, August 2016: 78–83.

  Demick, Barbara. “Cockroach Farms Multiplying in China.” Los Angeles Times, October 15, 2013. http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-c1-china-cockroach-20131015-dto-htmlstory.html

  Gahukar, R. T. “Entomophagy and Human Food Security.” International Journal of Tropical Insect Science 31:3 (2011): 129–44.

  Goodyear, Dana. “Grub: Eating Bugs to Save the Planet.” New Yorker, August 15, 2011. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/08/15/grub

  Gordon, David George. The Eat-A-Bug Cookbook. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 1998.

  Holt, Vincent M. Why Not Eat Insects? London: Field & Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, 1885.

  Hongo, Jun. “Waiter … There’s a Bug in My Soup.” Japan Times, December 14, 2013. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/12/14/lifestyle/waiter-theres-a-bug-in-my-soup/#.WIensbYrKi4

  Katayama, Naomi, et al. “Entomophagy: A Key to Space Agriculture.” Advances in Space Research 41 (2008): 701–5.

  ____. “Entomophagy as Part of a Space Diet for Habitation on Mars.” Journal of Space Technology and Science 21:2 (2005): 227–38.

  Lee, Nicole. “Grow Your Own Edi
ble Mealworms in a Desktop Hive.” Engadget, November 11, 2015. https://www.engadget.com/2015/11/11/livin-farms-hive/

  MacNeal, David. “Bug Bento.” Wired, September 17, 2013. https://www.wired.com/2013/09/bugbento/

  Martin, Daniella. “The Benefits of Eating Bugs.” The Week, March 1, 2014. http://theweek.com/articles/450029/benefits-eating-bugs

  ____. Edible: An Adventure into the World of Eating Insects and the Last Great Hope to Save the Planet. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014.

  McNeilly, Hamish. “Hungry? Try a ‘Sky Prawn’ at Dunedin’s Vault 21 Restaurant.” Stuff, May 24, 2016. http://www.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/80331526/Hungry-Try-a-sky-prawn-at-Dunedins-Vault-21-restaurant

  Megido, Rudy Caparros, et al. “Edible Insects Acceptance by Belgian Consumers: Promising Attitude for Entomophagy Development.” Journal of Sensory Studies 29 (2014): 14–20.

  Ramos-Elorduy, Julieta. “Anthropo-Entomophagy: Cultures, Evolution and Sustainability.” Entomological Research 39 (2009): 271–88.

  Raubenheimer, David, and Jessica M. Rothman. “Nutritional Ecology of Entomophagy in Humans and Other Primates.” Annual Review of Entomology 58 (2013): 141–60.

  Shockley, Marianne, and Aaron T. Dossey. “Insects for Human Consumption.” Mass Production of Beneficial Organisms: Invertebrates and Entomopathogens. Juan A. Morales-Ramos, M. Guadalupe Rojas, and David I. Shapiro-Ilan, eds. Oxford: Elsevier, 2014. 617–52.

  van Huis, Arnold, et al. “Edible Insects: Future Prospects for Food and Feed Security.” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. FAO Forestry Paper 171 (2013).

  van Huis, Arnold, Henk van Gurp, and Marcel Dicke. The Insect Cookbook: Food for a Sustainable Planet. New York: Columbia University Press, 2014.

  Wøldike, Christian Korf, Jakub Droppa, and Mads Gustav Grene. “Insects for Dinner: A Study of Entomophagy.” Roskilde University. PhD dissertation, 2016.

  Yen, Alan L. “Entomophagy and Insect Conservation: Some Thoughts for Digestion.” Journal of Insect Conservation 13 (2009): 667–70.