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I don't know how chickens feel about Japanese Beetles, but they are not 
edible by people.  I went to a nature camp as a kid.  We ate all sorts 
of odd things.  The grasshoppers and ants were delicious.  One summer 
some folks had been picking Japanese Beetles off the rose bushes, and 
decided to try eating them.  They laid them out on a cookie tray, 
roasted them, and prepared to feast. . . Not one person could get them 
down.   Apparently they are very bitter, not to mention the unpleasant 
texture.  (This is a group of people who happily ate other insects, you 
understand.  It was also an "environmental" kind of place - no poisons 
on the rose bushes, just people picking off the bugs.)

My father once ate 1/2 of a beetle that was hiding in his salad.  He 
took a bite and spat it out in disgust (finding the half beetle shortly 
thereafter.)  He said the flavor was so foul that he couldn't eat for 
the rest of the day.

From these two incidents I have assumed that beetles don't taste very 
good.

Cicadas look quite similar to insects which are very tasty, such as 
grasshoppers and crickets.  I wouldn't be at all surprised if they are 
good to eat.  And don't worry about the saturated fat in chocolate - it 
is an unusual fatty acid, and it doesn't seem to cause problems like 
more common saturated fatty acids.  In fact, the antioxidants in dark 
chocolate make it a net win for heart-health.   Although I'd think a 
simpler accompaniment such as butter and salt would be better for 
cicadas.

Ginda

On Apr 30, 2004, at 2:44 PM, rob hamilton wrote:

> One of the links suggested that Japanese Beatles being
> edible.  Next month I will have enough to eat and put
> up for storage.  Anyone got a recipe for JB jam? :)
>
> Actally, I dont think I could stand popping them in my
> mouth (at least the adults), but I wish I could get
> the birds interested in them.
>
> Robert
>
>
> --- longdistshtr <longdistshtr@shtc.net> wrote:
> > As Jerry Lehman mentioned in his American Persimmon
> > Interest Group Article
> > (Pomona, Spring '04) some Native American diet items
> > have gone unappreciated
> > over the years. However uninformed this information
> > may seem, there is an
> > element of fact in it.
> > Being that this is a target year for the emergence
> > of tenerals from all
> > those grubs which have been gnawing our delicate
> > feeder roots for almost two
> > decades, there is a chance for revenge and also to
> > revive a favored fare of
> > this Land's former inhabitants.
> > They are surprisingly delicious and in some parts of
> > the Country there will
> > be plenty of them to sample if you are so inclined.
> > Try 'em. You'll
> > probably like 'em.  The females are best. The listed
> > site has several
> > recipes.  I'd advise one to stay away from the
> > saturated fat in the
> > chocolate covered ones. Leave a few to serenade me
> > with their "July Fly
> > Overture" on a hot summer afternoon while I sip my
> > Mint Julep.
> http://www.urhome.umd.edu/newsdesk/pdf/cicada%20recipes.PDF
> > Doc Lisenby
> > Zone 7/8 (SC-whar we don't know nothin' 'bout no
> > 'simmon puddin' but the
> > 'possums are good 'n fat)