Photo caption: "clam" is the source of protein in Botswana.

Crickets, termites, mantis, scorpion, these listless insects are the delicious food on the table of Africans. More surprisingly, in several southern African countries such as Botswana, a moth larvae are also used as a raw material to supplement the protein and even serve as a sign for the VIP.

The canned beetle is sent to the big supermarket

The worm, called clam, is the larva of the clam moth. This moth spawns mainly on widely distributed clams in southern Africa. As the Global Times reporter went to Botswana in the winter, the clam tree leaves fell, so there were no live insects. But listen to local people, every spring when the larvae are active, the whole tree is crawling with worms. The larvae are about six to eight centimeters long, red and yellow with black stripes, and each segment of the body has small spikes protruding outward. The ugly appearance is hard for people to associate with their guests' delicacies.

Every March and April, rural Botswana people go to their houses every day to collect mature caterpillars from the clam trees behind them. After catching the worm, the women first squeezed out the insect's viscera, salted it with salt water for a few hours, then put it on the fire, then dried it under the sun or dried it by the fire. All these practices are meant to keep the worm dry for a long time, and to taste it every time a major festival or VIP comes to the door. Not only Botswana, but many countries in southern Africa, including Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa, consume clams extensively. In addition to retailing at markets, the dried insects are canned and sent to supermarkets in the capital and other big cities for sale. So the townspeople can enjoy this unique food.

Airlift worms to Embassies on a regular basis

Reporters saw the worm in a market in a small village in the north of Botswana. The worm dried in a large sack, dark brown or dark, with a hard shell. The local people usually eat it as a snack. When people chat together after dinner, they often chew up a few, just like Chinese people watch TV and eat melon seeds. The reporter cautiously picked up a trunk of worms, and dared not deliver it to his mouth. With the encouragement of the local people, the reporter finally summoned up the courage to put the worms into his mouth. The first bite is slightly spicy and salty, which is the flavor of pickled seasoning. Slowly chewing, the more the flavor, a kind of fragrance similar to leaf fiber.  Clam is also the main source of supplemental protein in southern Africans.

Reporters once attended the National Day reception held in Beijing by the Botswana Embassy in China, at which they saw this kind of Botswana national dish. The ambassador introduced that the Ministry of foreign affairs of Botswana, in order to allow diplomats from overseas to taste the food of his hometown, specially airlifted the clam worm in the embassies of Botswana on a special basis. These insects were processed in advance, made into ready to eat products, and then transported to embassies around the world.

Bugs bring great profits

In addition to local consumption, clams are also exported to foreign countries. It has also become one of the important exports of Southern Africa. In the 90s of last century, hundreds of tons of clams were exported to South Africa and Botswana every year. This humble bug can bring us $8 million net export revenue per year to Botswana.

At the same time, clam is also considered to be a lucrative industry. Because of the strong reproduction ability of this insect, it can be harvested only by natural strength. According to statistics from Botswana Research Institute, every 3 kilograms of clam leaves can produce 1 kilograms of clam. Botswana's pillar cattle industry, too, needs at least 10 kilograms of cattle feed to produce a kilogram of beef. The clam is a typical low input and high yield. Now Botswana is raising silkworms with the same way of raising silkworms, while planting more clams.