According to a 2013 report from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), around 2 billion people worldwide eat insects as part of a traditional diet – a practice known as entomophagy.
Beetles are the most commonly consumed insect, followed by caterpillars, bees, wasps, ants, grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets. All in all, more than 1,900 insect species are considered edible.
Entomophagy is a common practice in many parts of the world, including China, Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and some developing regions of Central and South America.
In the Western world, however, it seems bugs fail to tickle the taste buds; a study published last year in the Journal of Insects as Food and Feed found that 72 percent of Americans are unwilling to consider eating insects.