Hallucinogenic bamboo grub?

[Mark Meckes]

An interesting article from www.erowid.org ... (excerpts below)
A Pointer to a New Hallucinogen of Insect Origin (http://www.erowid.org/animals/bamboo_worm/1984_britton_j-ethnopharmacology.htm) - by E.B. Britton
The purpose of this note is to draw attention to a long forgotten observation which points to the existence of a new hallucinogen, unique in that its source is an insect.

Augustin de Saint-Hilaire (1779-1853) travelled extensively in eastern Brazil between 1816 and 1823 and after his return to France published valuable observations on the geography, ethnology and natural history of the country. In two of his unpublished works Saint-Hilaire (1824, republished Jenkins, 1946, p. 49; 1830, pp. 432-433) described the use of an insect as food and medicine by the Malalis, natives in the Brazilian province of Minas Gerais.
The relevant passage (1824) (translated) is as follows:

... When I was among the Malalis, in the province of Mines, they spoke much of a grub which they regarded as a delicious food, and which is called bicho de tacuara (bamboo-worm), because it is found in the stems of bamboos...

... These observations are repeated in Saint-Hilaire (1839, pp. 432-433) with
the addition of the information that the "bicho de taquara" are half as long as the index finger.
The intoxicating effect of the larvae from bamboo has apparently been forgotten in Brazil and the seven volume Handbook of South American Indians (Steward, 1946-1959) while referring briefly to the observation of
Saint-Hilaire in Vol. 5 (p. 557) gives no additional references.
This is perhaps not surprising as the Malalis were a near-coastal tribe long ago overrun by the advance of civilisation.
The name "bicho de taquara" is, however, still in use and according to Ihering ... refers to the larva of the moth Myelobia (Morpheis) smerintha Huebner (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae : Crambinae).
Costa Lima (1967, p. 246) states that the larvae feed in common bamboos including Nastes (=Nastus) barbatus Trin., "taquara lixa" (Merostachys Rideliana Rupr.), "taquara poca" (Merostachys Neesii Rupr.) and "taquaras- su" (Guadua sp.) (Hoehne, F.C. et al.). The larvae feed inside the internodes of the bamboo and attain a maximum length of about 10 cm. The moth emerges in September and has frequently appeared in plague proportions.
There are 24 species of Myelobia in South America, one in Mexico and one in Guatemala. The statement by Saint-Hilaire that the larvae are only found when the bamboo is in flower probably means that the host bamboos flower annually (as do a number of Brazilian species) and it is at that time that the larvae reach their maximum size. As the adult moth emerges in September this is probably in July or August....

(excerpt from above article)

[pauly1060]

Very interesting, I was wondering if the larva feeds on the bamboo?

I have heard that bamboo is very resistant to both pests and disease.

[Mark Meckes]

Hi,
The article (post#1) states that Myelobia species larvae have been found feeding, presumably inside the internodes, of the following bamboo genera: Nastus, Merostachys and Guadua.

From this article ...
Myelobia atroparsella WALK. (LEPIDOPTERA : PYRALIDAE), NUEVO TALADRADOR DE CAÑA DE AZUCAR EN VENEZUELA. (Spanish)
http://www.redpav-fpolar.info.ve/entomol/v09-1/v0901a12.html


The larvae ... were producing damages to the cane stems later and, the
same species was located in cana brava cane stems Gynereum sagitattum

Gynerium sagittatum is a grass with bamboo-like canes (arrows have been made from them)

I'm unsure whether the original author on the hallucinogenic bamboo grub may have used the term bamboo as a common name for this grass.

FYI ... Photos:

Myelobia atroparcella (Walk) larvae
http://www.plagas-agricolas.info.ve/admin/multimedia_new/imagenes/42c87f8ab781b.jpg

Myelobia smerintha
http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=5135099
---------

I have heard that bamboo is very resistant to both pests and disease.

I read somewhere ... probably outdated ... that there are over 600 pests around the world associated with bamboo.
However bamboos are very resilient plants, and are also aided in their natural environment by predatary fauna which help keep many pests in check. Also as with other plants, many bamboo pests are specific to genus of bamboo.

The greatest danger is the introduction of new pests, and in regions where there are no natural predators, and a combination of pests attacking different parts of the plant.

Mark

[TribalWind]

hmm.
if ya cant beat em'
eat em' :p

[Mischa Z]

Stoned on bugs?

One of the reasons for my love of bamboo concerns my profession as a classical guitarist. I spent 3 years studying the equivalent art in India via Grandmaster Ali Akbar Khan, and I studied the traditional scholar's instrument of China under classical master Lui Tsun-Yuen. This was in the 1970s, and Mr. Lui introduced me to the writings of R.H. Van Gulik, a diplomat to China from the Nederlands, and an amatuer ch'in player himself, the ancient "lute" of the Chinese literati, revered and played even by Confucius.

So, via Van Gulik's writings, the historic ancient 3rd C Taoists known as "The Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove" made a very deep impression upon me and my music. They made me aware that China was a good 2000 years ahead of Europe in classical guitar or "lute" culture, quite an experience. Even in the 3rd Century, when these sages lived, Taoism was viewed as being very ancient. My favorite character in these 7 sages was the master musician/Taoist/Poet: Hsi K'ang. He wrote the most famous composition in ch'in literature, which was essentially very like what Jimi Hendrix did to the Star-Spangled Banner at Woodstock. He tortured the "State Melody" due to the horrors of ongoing, unjust war, for the Sages were like Woodstock Nation, they advocated informal dress, World Peace, the beauty of "going back to Nature," via the ancient bamboo grove they met in when they were students, when they were about College Age. The bamboo grove itself was actually a mountain retreat for the privileged classes of 3rd C China. The 3rd C "Woodstock Nation" was just like the modern one: some of the sages stayed committed to their idealism, while others joined the warring Administration to pursue money and power. Hsi K'ang himself had really antagonized the Powers that Be with his music, lifestyle, and beliefs in Peace. Eventually the Administration found an excuse to get rid of this "troublemaker," and sentenced him to be beheaded. He met his end like Socrates, one of those very, very special people in history. He played his famous composition "Great Peace," then walked to his death with unbroken tranquility.

What has this got to do with this thread? Well, according to 3rd C writers, these sages used to "search the woods for magic herbs, and when they found them, they would forget to return (to the ancient bamboo grove). Likewise, 3rd C writers referred to what was already a very ancient Taoist mental condition, called "mind like stone." Truly, for thousands of years, Bob Dylan has described it right, "Everybody must get stoned." This raises the question as to by whom and when the very word "stoned" was introduced to American culture. I'm willing to bet that this happened via "scholarly/intellectual/poetical beats" in San Francisco, or perhaps in Greenwich Village many, many years ago.

Last, one 3rd C writer talked of Hsi K'ang and his meeting with a famous Taoist, a named Wang Lieh. It seems that he and Hsi K'ang "found a Stalactite shaped like a sweetmeat, ate it, and 'then their minds became like stone.' " The ancient author made a further comment that "this frozen condition of the mind plays an important role in early Taoist mysticism." EARLY even in relation to 3rd C China!

The ancient quotations above were translated into English in the 1930s and early 1940s by R.H. van Gulik. His translation of Hsi K'ang's "Poetical Essay on the Lute" tends to be a bit scholarly, perhaps. But, other than that, this 70 page poetical essay to the "lute" could have been written yesterday, and it is an essay of great beauty:

"Hsi K'ang and His Poetical Essay on the Lute," by R.H. Van Gulik, first published in 1941.

This should prove to be a fascinating book to most bamboo crazies. The parallels between Woodstock Nation and the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove are truly astonishing, even to the point of Yuppie hypocrisy, the fact that the idealism was held by some of these "sages" only during their youth, the fact that they praised "getting back to Nature," but in reality chose to live in "civilization," the fact that they rejected "suits and ties," but wore "jeans and hippy" equivalents, the fact that they praised the grove, Nature, World Peace, cultural openness, poetry, chess, music, and many others of the trappings of future Woodstock. And, of course, there is the drug/alcohol connection. One "sage" made his later name solely on his drunken behavior and his single surviving poem, "Ode to the Virtue of the Grape." He always traveled with a servant who carried a shovel, with instructions to bury him "wherever he might fall." Really, there are in fact times when it does seem that "there is nothing new under the sun!"

While "Reverence for Nature" mostly entered Buddhism via Taoism in ancient China, it is interesting to note that a very famous Prince in Ancient India gave Buddha and his disciples a large, mountain bamboo forest as a very special gift, a place for them to live and to meditate. The relationship of "the Music of Enlightenment" to the "lute-like" classical instruments of several great cultures--and to bamboo itself, is often an intrinsic relationship.

In sum, I can't wait for my grove to develop, a perfect setting for intimate music and other great arts for me and my friends! It is hard to curtail my enthusiasm at this point, so close after so many years!

Watch those "stalactites shaped to sweetmeats," folks!

Best,

Mischa Z