Cà cuống
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Lethocerus indicus'' is a
giant water bug Belostomatidae is a family of freshwater hemipteran insects known as giant water bugs or colloquially as toe-biters, Indian toe-biters, electric-light bugs, alligator ticks, or alligator fleas (in Florida). They are the largest insects in the ord ...
in the family
Belostomatidae Belostomatidae is a family of freshwater hemipteran insects known as giant water bugs or colloquially as toe-biters, Indian toe-biters, electric-light bugs, alligator ticks, or alligator fleas (in Florida). They are the largest insects in the or ...
, native to
South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
and
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
, as well as southeast China, the
Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...
, and
New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...
.P. J. Perez-Goodwyn (2006). ''Taxonomic revision of the subfamily Lethocerinae Lauck & Menke (Heteroptera: Belostomatidae)". Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde.'' A (Biologie) 695: 1–71. It was originally described as ''Belostoma indicum'' but is no longer placed in that genus. This insect is well known as an edible species in a number of different Southeast Asian cuisines. The taste of the flight muscles is often compared to sweet scallops or shrimp.


Description

The Asian region has several species of Belostomatidae including '' L. patruelis'', ''L. insulanus'', ''L. indicus'', and '' Kirkaldyia deyrolli''. ''L. indicus'' typically has a length between . ''
Lethocerus insulanus ''Lethocerus insulanus'' is a species of giant water bug of the family Belostomatidae. Its common name is the giant water bug, but it is also called the electric light bug or giant fishkiller. These names are also used for various other members o ...
'' is found along the islands of Southeast Asia to northern Australia and has a medial dark stripe between the light stripes of the pronotum while ''patruelis'' (found from southern Europe to Myanmar) has narrower light stripes and the first tarsomere on the foreleg is longer than the claw (almost equal in ''L. indicus''). ''Kirkaldyia deyrolli'' is paler and lacks pronotal stripes. The genus ''Kirkaldyia'' can be distinguished from ''Lethocerus'' by more widely separated eyes, and the presence of two asymmetrical furrows on the inner setal pad of the fore femur. The species is distributed widely in peninsular India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, into Southeast Asia, extending east to Taiwan and south along Sumatra, Java, Indonesia, Philippines and parts of western Papua New Guinea. Glands in the abdomen produce odorous chemicals that include (E)-2-hexenyl acetate, (E)-2-hexenyl butanoate, 1-undecen-3-one, 3-mercaptohexyl acetate, and 3-mercapto-1-hexanol which may have a role as an attractant particularly in males. The first two are said to impart a sweet banana-like smell.


Research

The large size of this insect and its
flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...
muscles and the ease of dissection makes it an excellent model organism for muscle structure with special features pertinent to the
cardiac muscle Cardiac muscle (also called heart muscle, myocardium, cardiomyocytes and cardiac myocytes) is one of three types of vertebrate muscle tissues, with the other two being skeletal muscle and smooth muscle. It is an involuntary, striated muscle th ...
. The high degree of structural order makes is possible to obtain
X-ray diffraction X-ray crystallography is the experimental science determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal, in which the crystalline structure causes a beam of incident X-rays to diffract into many specific directions. By measuring the angles ...
patterns richer and more detailed than those from vertebrate
striated muscle Striations means a series of ridges, furrows or linear marks, and is used in several ways: * Glacial striation * Striation (fatigue), in material * Striation (geology), a ''striation'' as a result of a geological fault * Striation Valley, in Ant ...
.


As food


Vietnam

The Vietnamese call this insect ''cà cuống''. It is a highly prized food and often boiled and fried whole. The insect's essence (a
pheromone A pheromone () is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting like hormones outside the body of the secreting individual, to affect the behavio ...
produced by the male that attracts females) is harvested by collecting its liquid-producing sacs. That liquid is then placed in small glass containers. The insect is claimed to be scarce, and demand for the extract is high. Most of the ''cà cuống'' essence on the market is therefore imitation, with the actual essence fetching a high price. ''Cà cuống'' is typically used sparsely and eaten with ''
bánh cuốn ''Bánh cuốn'' (, ''rolled sheets'') is a Vietnamese dish originating from Northern Vietnam. In Vietnamese cuisine ''Bánh cuốn'' is made from a thin, wide sheet of fermented rice batter filled with a mixture of cooked seasoned ground por ...
'' (rice noodle rolls) by adding a drop to the ''
nước chấm (, Chữ Nôm: 渃㴨) is a common name for a variety of Vietnamese " dipping sauces" that are served quite frequently as condiments. It is commonly a sweet, sour, salty, savoury and/or spicy sauce. (mixed fish sauce) is the most well kno ...
'' (dipping sauce). It is also eaten in a soup dish called 'bún thang' adding a unique essence to the broth. The dish traditionally includes rice noodles, thinly sliced egg crepe, pork cold cuts, and other various additions in a chicken/dry squid broth. A tiny drop of the extract on the tip of a toothpick would suffice to flavor the whole bowl of soup. This dish originated in Northern Vietnam.


Thailand

In the northeast region of
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
, eating insects is common. In other parts of Thailand, including the Central and Southern regions, the aromatic essence from this species of insect, known as ''malaeng da'' ( th, แมลงดา), ''malaeng da na'' () or ''maeng da na'' (), is also popular. The water bug can be eaten whole and fried, and as an extract. ''Malaeng da'' is used to make ''
nam phrik ''Nam phrik'' ( th, น้ำพริก, ) is a type of Thai spicy chili sauce typical of Thai cuisine. Usual ingredients for ''nam phrik'' type sauces are fresh or dry chilies, garlic, shallots, lime juice and often some kind of fish or ...
malaeng Da'', a type of chili sauce used as a condiment.


Philippines

In the
Ilocos Ilocos Region ( ilo, Rehion/Deppaar ti Ilocos; pag, Sagor na Baybay na Luzon/Rehiyon Uno; tl, Rehiyon ng Ilocos) is an administrative region of the Philippines, designated as Region I, occupying the northwestern section of Luzon and part of ...
region in the northern part (
Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
) of the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
some insects such as crickets, locusts, and beetles are traditionally eaten. The water bug or water beetle is known as ''alukap'' in
Ilokano language Ilocano (also Ilokano; ; Ilocano: ) is an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines, primarily by Ilocano people and as a lingua franca by the Igorot people and also by the native settlers of Cagayan Valley. It is the third most-spoken ...
. It is sauteed or fried in oil, garlic, onions and tomatoes, or roasted, after the wings and legs have been removed, and eaten as a viand for steamed rice or as a finger food with liquor. The same is done in the
Visayas The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Bisayan languages, Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; tl, Kabisayaan ), are one of the three Island groups of the Philippines, principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, along with Luzon and Mindanao ...
region where it is called ''obus'' in the
Visayan language The Bisayan languages or Visayan languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages spoken in the Philippines. They are most closely related to Tagalog and the Bikol languages, all of which are part of the Central Philippine languages. Mo ...
.Chapter 25 Other Countries in SE Asia
/ref>


See also

*
List of Thai ingredients This is a list of ingredients found in Thai cuisine. Herbs and spices Fresh herbs and spices }), sometimes called ''kaeng lao'' ( th, แกงลาว). , - , , Kuichai , กุยช่าย , ''Allium tuberosum'' Chinese chives , Closer ...


Bibliography

*Gene DeFoliart o
food-insects.com
https://web.archive.org/web/20030311131121/http://www.food-insects.com/book7_31/Chapter%2025%20Other%20Countries%20in%20SE%20Asia.htm] * Bekyarova, T. I., Baumann, B. A .J., Reedy, M. C., Tregear, R. T., Ward, A., Krzic, U., Prince, K. M., Reconditi, M., Gore, D., Irving, T. C., and Reedy, M. K. "Crossbridges as Passive Brakes: Reverse Actin Sliding Triggers Strong Myosin Binding That Moves Tropomyosin"PNAS 105:10372-10377 (2008).


References


External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2932216 Hemiptera of Asia Edible insects Vietnamese cuisine Thai cuisine Philippine cuisine Belostomatidae