Any given person will eat between one and two pounds of insects every year without knowing it. They are found in some of the most highly consumed foods in America, such as peanut butter, chocolate, ketchup, macaroni and cheese, fruit juice and popcorn.

Insect consumption is so common that the Food and Drug Administration issued what it calls “Food Defect Action Levels,” which outline how many insects (or insect fragments) certain foods can contain without being hazardous to health. For example, two tablespoons of peanut butter can contain up to 20 insect fragments. A normal-sized Hershey’s chocolate bar can contain up to 40 insect fragments, and a box of the college staple food, macaroni and cheese, can contain up to 150 insect fragments.

Knowing those facts probably makes people want to think twice before snacking, disgust at the thought of eating insects is a culturally learned reaction. Kirk Larsen, professor of biology, stresses this concept to students in his entomology classes.

“In other places in the world, people eat a lot more than a pound or two of insects a year, and they do it intentionally,” said Larsen.

Aside from learning about other cultures’ insect consumption practices, Larsen has been known to expose students to insect delicacies of his own. His homemade treats include “Chocolate Chirpies” — chocolate covered crickets — and fried mealworms.

“Insects are a great source of nutrients and energy,” Larsen said. “They make a good alternative food source, if you can get past our cultural perceptions.”

Larsen came to Luther in the fall of 1993 and began teaching entomology classes as part of his teaching assignment in biology. There are currently two courses available to students interested in insect biology.

Biology 112: Insects, Humans and the Environment is offered every spring to non-biology majors. It is a lab science course that exposes students to the wide variety of insects encountered in everyday life.

In addition to sampling Larsen’s homemade snacks, students discover the diverse types of insects that live in the Upper Iowa River and have the chance to adopt an insect. Last year’s class observed Madagascar hissing cockroaches, milkweed bugs and Painted Lady Butterflies in the comfort of their dorm rooms.

Biology 251: Entomology is an elective course for biology majors. Environmental studies majors who are on the bioscience track may also take the course to fulfill major elective requirements. It is offered every other fall semester and provides a more in-depth look at insects and their impact on the environment.

Students who have a high interest in entomology usually go on to do research with Larsen after they take Bio 251.

“Those students are really competitive for graduate schools and graduate research assistantships because of their interest and undergraduate research experiences,” said Larsen.

Since Larsen began teaching at Luther, 12 of his students have gone on to study entomology after graduation.

“They get a good solid foundation coming out of Luther, which gives them skills for success later in life,” said Larsen.

Regardless of the level of enthusiasm when it comes to insects, the reality is they are a prevalent and necessary part of everyday life. There are over 200 million insects one human on Earth. Over 1.25 million species of insects are known, which is more than are known for any other organism group. Researchers estimate that there are over 10 million species of insects yet to be discovered.

“We’ve got some really cool species here on campus,” said Larsen.

He went on to explain that encountering the most interesting insects requires time, patience and devotion to the cause.

There are two species of insects at Luther that students regularly encounter without any effort: box elder bugs and multicolored Asian Ladybird Beetles. In late autumn, these insects emerge in large swarms, searching for a warm place to spend the winter months. Usually their search leads them to dorm room windowsills and light fixtures, where they meet a variety of unfortunate fates.

Students’ strategies for dealing with these insect intruders range from suffocating them with strips of duct tape to drowning them in water bottles filled with dish soap.

“Scraping them into a water bottle works really well,” explained Julian Stanke (‘09). “That is, until you open up the bottle and smell it.”

One thing Midwesterners can look forward to this spring is a decrease in the mosquito population. Larsen explained that the large amounts of snow the area received this winter, combined with long spells of extremely cold weather, would likely knock back the mosquito population dramatically.

Although most of our experiences with insects are anything but enjoyable, Larsen encourages people to recognize the large impact insects have on our everyday lives.

“They provide a number of ecological services,” he said.

Insects are decomposers, help rid the environment of unnecessary waste, aid in pollination and are essential components of the food chain. Without insects, our lives would be much different than they are today.

“Insects are pretty important in a lot of ways,” said Larsen. “We just have to take the time to recognize how much they really affect us.”

*Picture above is of an Asian Beetle, which is not classified as a bug, but just a beetle.