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Calling critter connoisseurs

It's getting to be that time of the semester again where the funds are running low, and maybe, just maybe, there will be enough sustenance in the refrigerator until mom and dad come down for Parents Weekend.

Well relax.

A Web site built by Iowa State University's Entomology Department will keep any student well fed until at least graduation, and in a very cost-effective manner.

"Insect Recipes" (www.ent.iastate.edu/misc/insectasfood.html) offers simple recipes with ingredients one can find just outside the back door. It's a limited cookbook, but each recipe is guaranteed to keep a tummy full and happy.

"Banana Worm Bread," aside from containing the obligatory sugar, salt and bananas, includes 1/4 cup of dry-roasted army worms.

"Bug Blox" is simply Jell-O with dry-roasted leafhoppers thrown in for zing. For the health-conscious eater, there is the "Rootworm Beetle Dip," consisting of low-fat yogurt, low-calorie mayonnaise, skim milk and rootworm beetles - dry-roasted of course.

But how can the dieter know just which bug he or she should eat? The simple to use insect nutrition chart found on the site should answer any question. Who knew, for example, that 100 grams of small grasshopper contains 20.66 grams of protein compared to the large grasshopper with only 14.3? But that same amount of small grasshopper has a whopping 6.1 grams of fat, almost twice that of the large grasshopper. Careful, because that'll go straight to your hips. For the low-carb diet, try the dung beetle with its minuscule .2 grams.

And so tomorrow morning, while eating that last egg, don't just shoo away that fly competing for a bite. Instead, take a tip from "Insect Recipes" and throw that treat right in.