When British scientist J.B.S. Haldane was asked what could be inferred about the Almighty from a lifelong study of nature, he replied (given that there are 400,000 species of beetles, compared with only 8,000 species of mammals) that God must have Òan inordinate fondness for beetles.Ó If beetles and other insects are so abundant, why doesnÕt everyone eat bugs instead of plants, fish, birds, and chemically-fattened mammals? As explained in this prankish yet valuable guide to entomophagy (Latin for Òbug-eatingÓ), we already eat insects, inadvertently, in the sense that the FDAÕs food safety regulations allow up to 60 aphids in 3 1/2 ounces of frozen broccoli, 74 mites in 100 grams of canned mushrooms, and so on. They canÕt be completely kept out of our food, and, so long as we donÕt know weÕre eating them, theyÕre not only tasty, theyÕre rich in nutrients (a grasshopper, for example, is more than 20 per cent protein, and crickets are an excellent source of calcium). This parody of a typical cookbook concludes with a 3-page list of suppliers of edible anthropods (whether live or ready to serve), manufacturers of exotic toothpicks, and organizations that sponsor bug-eating extravaganzas. The author, who has a weakness for bad puns (among his recipes are ÒParty Pupae,Ó ÒThree Bee Salad,Ó ÒPest-O,Ó and ÒFried Green Tomato Horn WormÓ), has written such earlier popular books as The Compleat Cockroach and Field Guide to the Slug (which the New York Times described as ÒgrippingÓ). (Review from Ballast Quarterly Review, Vol 14 No 2 Winter 1998-99)