Giant camel spider anyone?
I hereby nominate the word ‘bug’ as the proper slang term for any arthropod, insect, or spider. That will put lobsters where they belong. I can’t believe that people eat them.
My excuse for not eating shrimp has always been, “If they were land animals, we’d have a spray for them.”
That’s actually pretty much limited to the Northeast. Even when you see bug carts set up in Bangkok, it’s in neighborhoods where you can find a large number of Northeasterners. Most Thais shudder at this, too. The wife, who is from Bangkok, certainly does.
What a strange photo - surely that’s two camel spiders or it has waaay too many legs to live. And there is something with the perspective in the image as well. Look at the sleeve of the guy holding the spider(s) - I don’t think they’re nearly as big as the photographer wants us to think.
You have restored my faith in humanity. Every food network show I see that goes to Thailand makes it look like everybody’s snacking on bugs all day long.
It is a good question, why it’s acceptable to eat bug-like seafood but not land-dwelling insects. I don’t have any good explanation, but now I’m hungry for shrimp heads. Yummy, yummy shrimp heads.
Actually, lobsters are frequently referred to as “bugs” – especially the smaller ones.
I was in one east-coast restaurant where you’d order the “bug” if you wanted a 1-pound lobster, but the bigger ones were just called “lobsters.”
Ooooo
Good catch.
Technically, insects do not have anuses. They have excretory structures called Malpighian tubules.
Also, Barry is covered in poisonous spines which can cause permanent numbness in humans. Lovely.
I love those eyes! Very cool, and I want one.
Wait, are you referring to the giant reef worm, or the columnist?
There is a general perception here, one that I do not share, that anything and anyone connected with the Northeast is, by definition, low class. The other Thais often look down their noses at that region. It is historically the poorest area of Thailand and remains so today. This may have been the impetus for the Northeasterners to develop an insect quisine. I have a good American friend who has lived in the heart of the Northeast for almost 20 years now himself, and he does enjoy himself some crispy bug snacks.
I pass on them myself, although there was one restaurant in northeastern China where I tried scorpions (quite good) and silk worms (yucky) among other types.
In Melbourne, Australia, they definitely call them bugs. You can go to any seafood restaurant and order a Moreton Bay Bug. I didn’t.
I’d be afraid they’d serve me one of these: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Giant_isopod.jpg
Technically, just a 13-foot legspan. That is, 13 feet from the tip of one foot to the tip of the diagonally opposite one.
Still pretty big, but not as large as one might initially think.
Psst: Post #51
Ooops. :o
Just posting to say I misread the topic as “BIG hugs”
A bug big enough to do that would indeed be frightening.