The wind rattles the four-by-eight-foot metal sheets that form the slanted walls of the giant insect trap. A diesel generator roars a few yards away, powering a 400-watt bulb at its center. The light is blinding to human eyes, but it’s a magnet for,but they’re actually cone-headed bush crickets.
It’s November 2020, and it should be the middle of the autumn harvest in Harugongo. Legend has it the insects come from the moon, and tonight it’s full. Yet “we’ve got nothing,” Islam says. “Where are they?” But the growing market promised a nice income, and Islam soon set up two commercial traps. “The nsenene came in big numbers,” says Islam, a slim man with a deep voice. “We had a lot of customers who came for them.
But until recently, not much was known about the biology, ecology, or life cycle of these insects. The scientists had to start from scratch.
This article ignores the fact that most dietary protein comes from plant foods, not animals. (Traditional foods like beans and rice provide all essential amino acids.)