"Insects are an unexploited resource for food," says Dr. JP Michaud, professor of entomology at Kansas State University. While insect consumption faces cultural obstacles in Western culture, Dr. Michaud sees rising acceptance, especially among ecologically-minded consumers and those who might avoid other forms of animal protein due to environmental concerns.

He was drawn to insects as “very useful, short-lived organisms” for testing evolutionary hypotheses during his graduate studies in ecology. Michaud explains, “If you’re working with beef cattle well, your herd size limits how many experiments you can do. But with insects, you can have a herd in a Petri dish.” Their rapid generations enabled experiments impossible with longer-lived species.