[neilep (OP)]

Oh Joy !!

My 13 month old son...is a typical 13 month old baby...always grabbing at things..pressing buttons...raising armies and taking over countries !!

Well...there he was happily figuring out how to put one foot in front of another when I saw him put something in his mouth...I thought it was a piece of cracker he picked up from a plate but on close inspection he had decided that the ala carte menu this evening was offering Moth  el cruncho !!

Ok..he soon gobbed it out and I had to put the thing out of it's misery but I noticed there was no really any sign of blood or anything wet for that matter.

So, thanks to my son I have two questions

1: Are moths good for your health

2: What kind of fluids do moths have going on inside them ?...I take it they do have a circulatory system of sorts do they ?

For the record..this was a moth only about a centimeter long and very light brown.

Men are the same as women, just inside out !

[Karen W.]

EWWWWW YUCK!!!! I doubt they are good for your health as far as being edible, but just enjoying a flutttery lif to watch may be ok. you know I noticed that they have a lack of fluid also and don't get it! Those are great questions!

Karen

[ROBERT]

Moths do have blood and a circulatory system:-

" Descriptive knowledge of the insect circulatory system dates back to Harvey (1628)
and has been reviewed repeatedly (Beard, 1953; Richards, 1963; Jones, 1964; Chapman,
1969). This circulatory system is an 'open' one although a pulsatile organ which
aids in the circulation of blood is located dorsally usually along the full length of the
animal. In moths, and in most other insects, this so-called heart is a simple tube
which extends along the mid-dorsal line of the abdomen and into the thorax where
it is then called the aorta. Contractions of the heart proceed usually from posterior
to anterior but may be reversed on occasion. "

http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/reprint/54/1/153.pdf

Moths can transmit diseases to plants and animals.
" Disease vectors

Whereby an insect or other arthropod does not cause actual disease but transports the organism responsible.

Two vector methods:

Mechanical - myxomatosis, bacteria by cockroaches and flies
Biological - requiring hosts in which the disease proliferates e.g. Malaria (disease) in humans (host) carried by mosquito (vector) "

http://bugs.bio.usyd.edu.au/Entomology/medicalEntomology/medicalEnto.html

[neilep (OP)]

THANK YOU ROBERT.

I will no longer indulge in Moth Fondues !!

Your links are fantastic.

Men are the same as women, just inside out !

[another_someone]

quote:Originally posted by neilep

THANK YOU ROBERT.

I will no longer indulge in Moth Fondues !!

Your links are fantastic.

Probably better if cooked, although I would imagine there are a few species that are toxic (more likely the brightly coloured ones - most toxic animals like to advertise the fact that they are poinsonous - no point in having a deterrent if no-one knows you have it).

George

[neilep (OP)]

THANK YOU GEORGE.

....the moth that inhabited the cavity of my sons mouth was one of the light brown crunchy ones !!!...but...as Robert has said...probably carry the odd germ or two....

...great !!...and now we have crane flys (daddy Longlegs) all over the place...Oh My !!..I am just picturing a happy face with a smile and a few dangly exteremiteis hanging out....yeuch !!!!

Men are the same as women, just inside out !

[Karen W.]

Aren't kids wonderful!!LOL YUMMMY!!HEE HEE HEE!

Karen

[ROBERT]

quote:Originally posted by neilep


I will no longer indulge in Moth Fondues !!

The ideal ingredient for your fondu would be Jamie Oliver's favourite: "buffalo Motharella cheeth" [].

http://www.magma.ca/~bskp/jamierecipe02.htm
http://www.magma.ca/~bskp/jamiebio.htm

[neilep (OP)]

Hmmmmm...Yummy !!!..THANKS ROBERT....


Men are the same as women, just inside out !

[Karen W.]

HEE! HEE! HEE!

Karen

[Monox D. I-Fly]

Glad it was just a moth. When I was 10, I bit a small bee thinking it was some crumbs of chocolate biscuits I ate earlier. The sting tasted spicy.

[Colin2B]

.... The sting tasted spicy.

Interesting. We keep bees but I've never tasted a sting, but I know it is an amazing chemical cocktail..
I assume it didn't sting you?

Bees and many other insects are eaten all over the world, but I e never heard of moths. Can't see that the body would be much different to a caterpillar.

[Monox D. I-Fly]

Interesting. We keep bees but I've never tasted a sting, but I know it is an amazing chemical cocktail..
I assume it didn't sting you?

I don't know. I bit it and it tasted spicy, which then I assumed was its sting.

[Mildura-F]

I don't think so

[kinoanna30]

Thanks for this information.

[chris]

The sting tasted spicy.

I would need to look into bee venom in more detail, but it's certainly true that other insects produce sting venoms with interesting tastes. In Australia on bush walks in Kakadu we had fun licking the rear ends of green tree ants. The formic acid they produce has a lemony taste.

It's also worth highlighting that the Cambridge Distillery are making gin from ants:

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/interviews/interview/1001895/

I've tried it and it is quite frankly f-ANT-tastic. No, it really is!

[nicephotog]

Ask the Australian Aborigines to send him some "Bogong moths"
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/bogong-moths-the-bush-tucker-superfood-swarming-canberra-20161102-gsg284.html

[Monox D. I-Fly]

The sting tasted spicy.

I would need to look into bee venom in more detail, but it's certainly true that other insects produce sting venoms with interesting tastes. In Australia on bush walks in Kakadu we had fun licking the rear ends of green tree ants. The formic acid they produce has a lemony taste.

It's also worth highlighting that the Cambridge Distillery are making gin from ants:

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/interviews/interview/1001895/

I've tried it and it is quite frankly f-ANT-tastic. No, it really is!

When I had a depression episode, I got to taste a living fire ant. It tastes spicy as well.