Arachnids as food

Some arachnids may be used for human consumption (edible arachnids), either whole or as an ingredient in processed food products such as cheese (Milbenkäse).^[1] Arachnids include spiders, scorpions, and mites (including ticks).

Spiders[]

Fried spiders for sale at the market in Skuon

About 15 species of spiders are scientifically described as being edible, with a history of human consumption.^[2] These edible spiders include:

Thailand zebra leg tarantula (Cyriopagopus albostriatus) which is sold fried as traditional snack in Cambodia and Thailand;
Thailand Black ();
Goliath birdeater (Theraphosa blondi);
several other species of tarantula;
the golden orb-weaving spider (Trichonephila edulis) that is eaten in New Caledonia and is said to taste like pâté.^[3]

Scorpions[]

Fried scorpions for sale at food market in Beijing

Fried scorpion is traditionally eaten in Shandong, China.^[4]

Mites[]

A wheel of young Milbenkäse

Milbenkäse (mite cheese) is a German speciality cheese.

Mimolette is a mite cheese traditionally produced around the city of Lille, France.

Cheese mites could cause an allergic reaction if consumed in large quantities (above the standard of six mites per cubic inch).^[5]

Processing[]

Typical processing of arachnids as food includes heating, defanging and, in certain cases, drying and grinding.^[1]

Footnotes[]

^ ^a ^b Costa-Neto, E.M.; Grabowski, N.T. (27 November 2020). "Edible arachnids and myriapods worldwide – updated list, nutritional profile and food hygiene implications". Journal of Insects as Food and Feed: 1–20. doi:10.3920/JIFF2020.0046. ISSN 2352-4588.
^ Yde Jongema (1. April 2017): List of edible insects of the world. Wageningen University.
^ Low, Tim (8 August 2016). "The tasty spider". Australian Geographic. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2021. The scientific name of this spider celebrates its culinary merits. French naturalist Jacques Labillardiere bestowed the name in 1799 after seeing the spiders roasted and eaten in New Caledonia.
^ Forney, Matthew (11 June 2008). "Scorpions for Breakfast and Snails for Dinner". The New York Times.
^ Fletcher, Janet (25 October 2013). "Mimolette imports on hold". SFGate. Archived from the original on 6 March 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2021. [...] the Food and Drug Administration began holding shipments of Mimolette because of tiny mites on the rind. They deemed the mites an allergen and health hazard [...]

External links[]

This food-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

[edible-arachnids-1] Costa-Neto, E.M.; Grabowski, N.T. (27 November 2020). "Edible arachnids and myriapods worldwide – updated list, nutritional profile and food hygiene implications". Journal of Insects as Food and Feed: 1–20. doi:10.3920/JIFF2020.0046. ISSN 2352-4588.

[2] Yde Jongema (1. April 2017): List of edible insects of the world. Wageningen University.

[3] Low, Tim (8 August 2016). "The tasty spider". Australian Geographic. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2021. The scientific name of this spider celebrates its culinary merits. French naturalist Jacques Labillardiere bestowed the name in 1799 after seeing the spiders roasted and eaten in New Caledonia.

[4] Forney, Matthew (11 June 2008). "Scorpions for Breakfast and Snails for Dinner". The New York Times.

[5] Fletcher, Janet (25 October 2013). "Mimolette imports on hold". SFGate. Archived from the original on 6 March 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2021. [...] the Food and Drug Administration began holding shipments of Mimolette because of tiny mites on the rind. They deemed the mites an allergen and health hazard [...]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t Meat
Main articles: Fish Game Insects Livestock Meat Poultry Seafood
Poultry	Cassowary Chicken Duck Emu Goose Grouse Ostrich Partridge Pheasant Pigeon Quail Rhea Turkey
Livestock	Alpaca Beef Beefalo Bison Buffalo Camel Cat Chevon (goat meat) Dog Elephant Escargot Frog Guinea pig Cuy Horse Lamb and mutton Llama Pork Veal Yak Żubroń
Game	Alligator Bat Bear Boar Crocodile Kangaroo Monkey Pangolin Rat Hare and rabbit Snake Turtle Venison Wolf
Fish	Anchovy Basa Bass Carp Catfish Cod Crappie Eel Flounder Grouper Haddock Halibut Herring Kingfish Mackerel Mahi Mahi Marlin Milkfish Orange roughy Pacific saury Perch Pike Pollock Salmon Sardine Shark Sole Swai Swordfish Tilapia Trout Tuna Walleye
Shellfish and other seafood	Abalone Calamari Clam Crab Crayfish Dolphin Lobster Mussel Octopus Oyster Scallop Seal meat Shrimp/prawn Sea urchin Whale
Insects	Black soldier fly maggots Cicada Crickets Grasshoppers (locust) Mealworm Silkworm Mopane worm Palm grub
Cuts and preparation	Aged Bacon Barbecued Biltong Braised Burger Charcuterie Chop Corned Cured Cutlet Dried Dum Fillet/supreme Fried Ground Ham Kebab Liver Luncheon meat Marinated Meatball Meatloaf Offal Pickled Poached Roasted Salt-cured Salumi Sausage Smoked Steak Stewed Tandoor Tartare
List articles	Beef dishes Chicken dishes Countries by meat consumption Fish dishes Food and drink prohibitions Goat dishes Lamb dishes Meat substitutes Meatball dishes Pork dishes Ham dishes Sausage dishes Sausages Seafood dishes Smoked foods Steaks Veal dishes
Related subjects	Animal rights Arachnophagy Bushmeat Butcher Cannibalism Carnism Case-ready meat Cultured meat Entomophagy Ethics of eating meat Factory farming Feed conversion ratio Environmental impact of meat production List of meat dishes Marbled Meat analogue Meat cutter Meat science Meat tenderness Non-vegetarian Pink slime Plant-based diet Preservation Psychology of eating meat Meat paradox Red meat Semi-vegetarianism Pescetarianism Pollotarianism Slaughter Slaughterhouse Veganism Vegetarianism White meat
Food portal Category: Meat