Picture from the internet because it’s too dark to take a picture of ants right now.
Sometimes an Australian adventure means the sort of activities I thought it would – like the time I ate kangaroo steak, or seeing the Great Barrier Reef. But sometimes an Australian adventure means green ant butts.
Part of our visit to the Aboriginal Cultural Center was an overview of the traditional foods and medicines of the Aboriginal peoples of Far North Queensland and a brief description of how the foods were prepared. One of the foods and medicines that the woman who was presenting told us about was a green ant which is common to the area. So common, in fact, that the other students on the trip and I had already noticed this ant. Its head, body, and legs are a very light, almost translucent brown, but its rearmost body segment is a pleasant spring green. Apparently Aboriginal people will eat these ants; the technique, the woman told us, is to catch the ant and then bite of the green butt, throwing the rest of the insect away. She told us that it has a rather lemony taste and a great number of vitamin/health benefits which I have forgotten. The other way Aboriginal peoples of Far North Queensland used these ants was for medicinal purposes. Its bite is supposed to help ease a number of ailments, including arthritis. “So children are taught that if the green ant bites you,” she told us, “he’s just trying to make you better. Besides, if he bites you, just bite him back.”
The next day I was talking with a friend from back home when a green ant wandered by. I relayed the above to her, and wondered aloud if I should try eating it. “Part of me says no,” was her reply, “because everything in Australia can kill you. But the other part of me wants you to eat it while you’re talking to me so I can hear your reaction.” I laughed and picked up the ant, considering. Eating insects is not something that appeals to me, but I was also incredibly curious.
Curiosity won. “Oh,” I exclaimed, “it tastes just like they said it would.”
“Wait…you actually ate it?!”
Eating green ant butts was not part of the plan, but in some ways it feels more like an actual Australian adventure than eating kangaroo steak did. I learned something new from a culture about which I had very little prior knowledge, and then I tried out the new thing I’d learned. That’s the point of travel, right? Besides, now I can say that I went to Australia and ate a green ant butt. Bet you haven’t heard that too many times before. 🙂
jackalopeabroad 