Bugs as food, bugs as art

Passionate entomologist Marcel Dicke reveals the multitude of reasons to appreciate insects you’ve likely never considered—but should.

Balthasar van der Ast (1593–1637) Fruit Still Life with Shells. Wikimedia Commons

Wageningen University professor of entomology Marcel Dicke has devoted his life to bugs. Not only does he work to popularize insects in the mainstream—offering lectures and festivals on the many wonders of bugs, including hosting a world record–breaking insect-eating event. He also tirelessly investigates ways insects can contribute to the good of humanity, whether by considering insects as an environmentally sustainable food source or as a subject long celebrated in the history of art.

Dicke’s own breakthrough research showed that plants under attack by insects can send out a chemical SOS signal to attract their attackers’ predators. This paradigm-shifting discovery opened up a whole new area of study — in the field of plant-animal interactions. In 2007, Dicke won the prestigious NWO Spinoza award for this research.

In 2010, he delivered a funny, impassioned, and informative talk — “Why not eat insects?” — at the TEDGlobal conference, in Oxford. In this talk, which has had well over 1.5 million views, Dicke made the case for raising insects as a nutritious and environmentally sustainable food source. He even made it sound…