COLOMBIA: COLOMBIANS SUFFER NATIONWIDE SHORTAGE OF CULONA ANTS, A NATIONAL DELICACY AND ALLEGED APHRODISIAC.

Record ID: 588487

  • Title: COLOMBIA: COLOMBIANS SUFFER NATIONWIDE SHORTAGE OF CULONA ANTS, A NATIONAL DELICACY AND ALLEGED APHRODISIAC.
  • Date: 26th June 1995
  • Summary: SANTANDER, COLOMBIA (RECENT) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV/MV: ANTS IN DIRT CARRYING LEAVES (2 SHOTS) 0.14 2. GV/MCU: ANTS IN DIRT/ ON LEAVES (3 SHOTS) 0.32 3. GV/MCU: MAN PUTTING STICK INTO NEST/ ANT NEST (2 SHOTS) 0.49 4. MV/MCU: MAN PUTTING ANTS ON TABLE/ FRIED ANTS (3 SHOTS) 1.07 5. MV: PROCESS OF ANTS BEING COOKED 1.27 6. MCU/MV: VARIOUS OF HAPPY PEOPLE EATING ANTS (4 SHOTS) 1.52 7. MV: ANT CULTIVATOR EXPLAINING THE TRADITION OF EATING ANTS (SPANISH) 2.29 8. LV/GV: CHURCH IN SANTANDER (2 SHOTS) 2.34 9. SV: ANT BUYER 2.39 10. MCU: MAN EATING ANTS SAYING "THEY'RE DELICIOUS." (SPANISH) 2.46 11. MCU: WOMAN SAYING OF COURSE I LIKE THEM. I'M FROM SANTANDER." (SPANISH) 2.51 12. MV: ANT SELLERS (2 SHOTS) 3.00 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
  • Embargoed: 11th July 1995 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: SANTANDER, COLOMBIA
  • City:
  • Country: Colombia LATIN AMERICA
  • Reuters ID: LVAAKURO14JQ1TK7A9KC15B3H90V
  • Story Text: INTRO: Colombians are suffering a nation-wide shortage of "culona" ants which are a national delicacy and claimed by some to be an aphrodisiac.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------- "Big-bottomed" ants are getting increasingly difficult to find despite their eye-catching anatomy.

    The insects are in big demand in Colombian where they are seen as a delicacy. Some say they're also a powerful aphrodisiac.

    The winged creatures have been hunted by natives since time immemorial.

    But it is thought there is not any real shortage of "culonas" in the northeast province of Santander. Local residents say the problem is that fewer and fewer people are actually going out to hunt them.

    The nationwide shortage of the savoury, toasted creatures has driven their cost up to 25 U.S. dollars (16 sterling) a pound (0.45 kilo) It is not entirely clear why the search for culonas, a word that literally means "big bottom", has fallen out of fashion.

    To trap the delicacy, hunters must first wait patiently beside an ant hill until males of the edible species -- known as "cabezones" or "fat-heads" -- venture into the daylight to survey the terrain and make sure it is safe for the females.

    If caught off guard, the hunter can be attacked without mercy by the fat-heads, who are armed with razor-sharp pincers with an iron grip.

    A successful hunter scoops the females or culonas into a plastic bag as they emerge from the ant hill, asphyxiating them.

    Their legs and wings are plucked off before they are toasted on a slow-burning fire in clay pots similar to those first used by pre-Columbian Indians.

    They are especially popular around Easter and as a gift for newlyweds.


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