Rhinoceros Beetles

We recently had some fun with our kids when we discovered a few dozen enormous Rhinoceros Beetle grubs in our shredded mulch pile.  If you haven’t seen a picture of these, click here. 

While some people might get an ick reaction, the fact is that these indigenous critters are very high in protein (40%) and could be an important food resource in times of desperation.  One report suggests that the larvae sell as pets for $3000/lb in Japan (for grubs in excellent condition). This link shows the grubs cooked up Thai style with a coconut sauce.  For the kids that really want to get grossed out, check out this youtube link of some tough guy eating the grubs raw.

I figure that the idea of eating grubs can’t be too far off from eating shrimp.

We were fortunate to discover these critters (about 60 of them) growing in a poly bin of 10 month old shredded leaves.  Last fall, we collected about 70 bags of neighbors fall leaves.  We shredded about 20 bags worth and placed them into a poly bin, and then forgot about them until this September.  I found the grubs about 6 inches below the surface.  They must have been eating a lot as the quantity of castings/pellets is quite significant.

For more links on these indigenous grubs, click here, here, and here.