Man's Pest Friend

Thailand's love of gastronomic exotica extends to the foulest of fauna. Grasshoppers, water bugs and dung beetles are considered fair snacktime fare. Not on the tapas menu, however, are cockroaches. Too vile even for the liberal Thai palette? No, too adorable—for months, one of the trendiest pets to own in Thailand has been the Madagascar Giant Hissing Cockroach, an imported species that can grow to centimeters in length and sells in pet shops for $1.20. "They're clean, they're cute and I love the sound they make," explains a proud local pest owner. Besides hissing, they also sizzle. Last week, Bangkok health authorities seized more than 200 of the roaches from pet shops, doused them with DDT and chucked them into a waste incinerator. Madagascar cockroaches were banned in Thailand last year, deemed a threat to national biosecurity. "They are an alien species that could damage the country's ecological system," explains Ampon Kittiampon of Thailand's Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. Pet owners have lost a friend—and gourmands are losing a chance to eat a bug big enough to be a meal in itself.