Following up on the last entry:

From the University of Kentucky Department of Entomology

The Japanese have used insects as human food since ancient times. The practice probably started in the Japanese Alps, where many aquatic insects are captured and eaten. Thousands of years ago, this region had a large human population but a shortage of animal protein. Since the area had an abundance of aquatic insects, this food source became very important for human survival. The Japanese still use insects in many recipes. If you were to go to a restaurant in Tokyo, you might have the opportunity to sample some of these insect-based dishes:

hachi-no-ko – boiled wasp larvae
wasp larvae

zaza-mushi – aquatic insect larvae

inago – fried rice-field grasshoppers
Grasshopper

semi – fried cicada
Cicada

sangi – fried silk moth pupae
Pupae

Most of these insects are caught wild except for silk moth pupae. They are by-products of the silk industry. Silk moths are raised in mass for their ability to produce silk. The larvae, the young silk moths, produce the silk. Once they pupate, they can no longer produce silk and are then used as food.