Mengshan Cicadas

Mengshan Cicadas

　　Mengshan Cicadas are highly nutritious, containing protein, calcium, phosphorus, fatty acids, chitin, amine salts, and other nutrients. They are a traditional wild delicacy from the Yimeng Mountain area and make a valuable gift for restaurants, travel, or visiting friends.

How to eat: Fry in warm oil until golden brown and then serve. Cicada molts are the shed skins of cicadas (family Cicadidae), specifically the black cicada (Cryptotympana atrata) during metamorphosis. The black cicada is commonly known as the "zhicha" or "cicada." Male cicadas have sound-producing organs on their abdomens and chirp loudly on trees during sunny summer days. The larvae of the black cicada live in soil before metamorphosis and climb up trees at dusk to emerge. Their backs split open in a cross shape as they begin to shed their skin. In summer, the shed skins of these cicadas are collected for medicinal use, hence called "cicada molts," also known as "cicada peels" or "cicada clothes," and commonly referred to as "cicada shells" or "zhilao shells." Cicada molts resemble cicadas but lack wings, are tea-brown in color, glossy, membranous, made of chitin, and very light.