Jumiles (); ( nah, Xomilli), are small stink bugs native to the

Taxco Taxco de Alarcón (; usually referred to as simply Taxco) is a small city and administrative center of Taxco de Alarcón Municipality located in the Mexican state of Guerrero. Taxco is located in the north-central part of the state, from the cit ...

region of the state of

Guerrero Guerrero is one of the 32 states that comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo and its largest city is Acapulcocopied from article, GuerreroAs of 2020, Guerrero the pop ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Their diet includes the leaves of the encina ('' Quercus ilex'') tree. ''Chumiles'' are a smaller, similar stink bug of the same region (southern Morelos and northern

). Any

edible An edible item is any item that is safe for humans to eat. "Edible" is differentiated from "eatable" because it does not indicate how an item tastes, only whether it is fit to be eaten. Nonpoisonous items found in nature – such as some mushroo ...

Hemiptera from the families

Coreidae Coreidae is a large family of predominantly sap-sucking insects in the Hemipteran suborder Heteroptera. The name "Coreidae" derives from the genus ''Coreus'', which derives from the Ancient Greek () meaning bedbug. As a family, the Coreidae ar ...

Pentatomidae Pentatomidae is a family of insects belonging to the order Hemiptera, generally called shield bugs or stink bugs. Pentatomidae is the largest family in the superfamily Pentatomoidea, and contains around 900 genera and over 4700 species.Robert ...

may be considered jumiles as well.

Use as food

Jumiles are collected for their culinary value and may be roasted, fried, ground, or eaten raw. A

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: ...

is prepared by combining fresh tomatoes, chiles and

onions An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the on ...

with jumiles that have been mashed in a

molcajete A ''molcajete'' (; Mexican Spanish, from Nahuatl ''molcaxitl'') and ''tejolote'' are stone tools, the traditional Mexican version of the mortar and pestle, similar to the South American batan, used for grinding various food products. Descripti ...

. The salsa is served with corn tortillas. The beginning of the jumil season on November 1 is the occasion of a large fiesta in Taxco. Fiesta-goers gather in the mountain park of Huisteco to collect jumiles and to crown a Jumil Queen. Jumiles are plentiful from November until February and become scarce after the first rains. Jumiles have a cinnamon-like odor. They are considered an acquired taste due to their high iodine content, which imparts a bitter, medicinal flavor. Jumiles are also a good source of

tryptophan Tryptophan (symbol Trp or W) is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. Tryptophan contains an α-amino group, an α-carboxylic acid group, and a side chain indole, making it a polar molecule with a non-polar aromatic ...

and the vitamins riboflavin and

niacin Niacin, also known as nicotinic acid, is an organic compound and a form of vitamin B3, an essential human nutrient. It can be manufactured by plants and animals from the amino acid tryptophan. Niacin is obtained in the diet from a variet ...

References

External links

Video of Mexican Celebrity Edgarito eating a live Jumil

Story and photos of ''jumiles'' and salsa made from ''jumiles''
{{Mexican cuisine Edible insects Mexican cuisine Pentatomidae Pentatomomorpha Insects of Mexico

Use as food

References

Further reading

External links