The Meng Mahn Have Flown

[chownah]

Our neighborhood was blessed this year with two nights with really strong meng mahn flights so we are enjoying an extended season. The wife made a batch of nam prik meng mahn that is really really good!!!!...but of course for me the best part of it is seeing how excited everyone gets when collecting them.... from the little kids right on up to grandma.

One way I like to eat them is to sprinkle some onto my rice and then eat them....its like the food chain right there at your table!!!

Edited April 29, 2007 by chownah

[leisurely]

pardon my ignorance, but what are they? I am assuming an insect of some sort?

[LaoPo]

Our neighborhood was blessed this year with two nights with really strong meng mahn flights so we are enjoying an extended season. The wife made a batch of nam prik meng mahn that is really really good!!!!...but of course for me the best part of it is seeing how excited everyone gets when collecting them.... from the little kids right on up to grandma.

One way I like to eat them is to sprinkle some onto my rice and then eat them....its like the food chain right there at your table!!!

My wife likes them with peanut butter, but only if catched fresh during he flight and still alive....

LaoPo

[chownah]

pardon my ignorance, but what are they? I am assuming an insect of some sort?

They are one of several flying insects which emerge in great numbers typically after the first heavy rain that ends the dry season. The females only are eaten around here although my wife says that some people eat the males....around here people catch the males in a basin of water and feed them to the chickens.

When they fly up they go towards lights and form a huge cloud.....walking up our back stairs when they are flying means that literally dozens of them will run into you and several will land on you (they don't bite).....mostly males....and another species of insect called meng mao which look similar...and also some flying black ants.

Anyway, the flying of the meng mahn is a truly northern Thai cultural event.....no dancers....no music....no ritual.....no television coverage....no TAT promotions....just a bit of real life excitement.

Chownah

[gusG]

We get the same thing here on Samui with about 3 different types of flying insects,at different times,and the staff get us to take the cars and motor bikes out of the carport under the house,and turn on the flouro lights so they can catch them in there thousands.

[sceadugenga]

pardon my ignorance, but what are they? I am assuming an insect of some sort?

They are one of several flying insects which emerge in great numbers typically after the first heavy rain that ends the dry season. The females only are eaten around here although my wife says that some people eat the males....around here people catch the males in a basin of water and feed them to the chickens.

When they fly up they go towards lights and form a huge cloud.....walking up our back stairs when they are flying means that literally dozens of them will run into you and several will land on you (they don't bite).....mostly males....and another species of insect called meng mao which look similar...and also some flying black ants.

Anyway, the flying of the meng mahn is a truly northern Thai cultural event.....no dancers....no music....no ritual.....no television coverage....no TAT promotions....just a bit of real life excitement.

Chownah

I look forward to them as it usually means the end of the dry season, my Mrs sweeps them up and takes most of them for her sister's fish pond. Wonder what they actually are, and where they live for the rest of the year?

[Chiang Rai Guy]

They burough underground and wait for the first rains after the dry season, usually just after Songkran. If you go out while the Thais, and sometimes myself, collect them, they often try to find the source of the nest. They stand where the meng mahn (mahn because of the oily texture of them when fried) burough out of the ground and collect them by the thousands. It truly is a delightful tradition here. Haven't met a local person who doesn't like them. Fun for the whole family, even if it is one or two nights a year.

[goski]

Especially since they sell for 700 baht a kilo!

[buddhafly]

chiang rai guy... congrats on your 50th post.

i'm sorry i cant be there to share this milestone with you.

yours

b-fly

[chownah]

The meng mahn are flying tonight again!!! That makes three times this year...the most I've seen since I've been here (5 years plus).

[goski]

I'm trembling with excitement.

[chownah]

I'm trembling with excitement.

Yeah...I know....this is definitely the most exciting thing happening in Chiangrai to be found on this forum!!!....but.....get ready for this!!!!.....rice season is coming early this year and I was out plowing in preperation....when I got back home I discovered a leech on my leg!!!!!! Now....who says that Chiangrai is a dull place with nothing exciting happening????? I think this deserves its own topic!!!

Chonwah

Edited May 6, 2007 by chownah

[gusG]

I'm trembling with excitement.

Yeah...I know....this is definitely the most exciting thing happening in Chiangrai to be found on this forum!!!....but.....get ready for this!!!!.....rice season is coming early this year and I was out plowing in preperation....when I got back home I discovered a leech on my leg!!!!!! Now....who says that Chiangrai is a dull place with nothing exciting happening????? I think this deserves its own topic!!!

Chonwah

Come on Chownah, if you want it to have it's own Topic, your gonna need some juicy photos of the little sucker.

[Chiang Rai Guy]

Are you sure they weren't meng mao last night?

[Joel Barlow]

Not clear on the diff twixt mang mao and mang meng (or whatever it was - can't check the original post and respond at the same time), but I asked about people grabbing bugs by the MaeFaLuang Bridge ( to my current understanding that's the one going to MaeFaLuang Road not the one to MaeSai...) - if they were just chomping them down or what... and was told they sell for B500/kilo. This morning their wings were all over, but last night we had the romance of a lightneing bug show after lights out - in the bedroom! Not as exciting as the recent scorpion (I have a pic of a huge one, chao na/chownah, if you're real interested - unlike blood-suckers, these can kill you) which stung my wife (morphine!)...

seems there're to be 4 long-tail boat docks soom, not just the one anymore, and some road building disrupted insect life, sending them scurrying...

on red ant eggs, just ate some "out of season" and the eggs were smaller, what hatched out different too - must be that different birthings have different jobs, activities, programming...

the wife says grass-hoppers, full grown, sell for B2 ea - for eating.

leaches, scorpions - possible health food? might bear some study

[buddhafly]

how deadly is the scorpion?

[sceadugenga]

Not clear on the diff twixt mang mao and mang meng (or whatever it was - can't check the original post and respond at the same time), but I asked about people grabbing bugs by the MaeFaLuang Bridge ( to my current understanding that's the one going to MaeFaLuang Road not the one to MaeSai...) - if they were just chomping them down or what... and was told they sell for B500/kilo. This morning their wings were all over, but last night we had the romance of a lightneing bug show after lights out - in the bedroom! Not as exciting as the recent scorpion (I have a pic of a huge one, chao na/chownah, if you're real interested - unlike blood-suckers, these can kill you) which stung my wife (morphine!)...

seems there're to be 4 long-tail boat docks soom, not just the one anymore, and some road building disrupted insect life, sending them scurrying...

on red ant eggs, just ate some "out of season" and the eggs were smaller, what hatched out different too - must be that different birthings have different jobs, activities, programming...

the wife says grass-hoppers, full grown, sell for B2 ea - for eating.

leaches, scorpions - possible health food? might bear some study

Well come on Joel, we've had the tell, now do the show. I haven't seen a live scorpion up here, just a few squashed in the street and then only about three inches long.

[chownah]

I have found scorpions in my garden on two occasions.. In both cases they were living under a large pile of rather coarse and twiggy weeds so that there were large spaces at the bottom of the pile where a large assortment of different bugs like to live. The first time was a loner.....the second time it was a nest of 4 of them....all were large, black, and looked like they had been weight lifting and taking steroids. The first time it was just luck that I didn't get stung and saw it in time...from that experience I learned about the dangers of putting ungloved hands under stuff in the garden and was already being cautious when I uncovered the nest of 4...but it was still a startle.

Chownah

[sceadugenga]

I have found scorpions in my garden on two occasions.. In both cases they were living under a large pile of rather coarse and twiggy weeds so that there were large spaces at the bottom of the pile where a large assortment of different bugs like to live. The first time was a loner.....the second time it was a nest of 4 of them....all were large, black, and looked like they had been weight lifting and taking steroids. The first time it was just luck that I didn't get stung and saw it in time...from that experience I learned about the dangers of putting ungloved hands under stuff in the garden and was already being cautious when I uncovered the nest of 4...but it was still a startle.

Chownah

You must have grown up somewhere safe. I wouldn't even put gloved hands into rubbish. (I cleaned up a squat when I was contracting years ago and got a syringe through the glove that missed the finger by a micro-millimeter), first turn over rubbish with something with a loooong handle!!!!!

[Chiang Rai Guy]

Ahh the good old meng wow. They are large critters. I had one that was a good 5 inches work it's way into my home a few years back. Didn't want to kill it but the possibility of more in the area scared me, so I took defensive action. They can get pretty bit, though not quite as the one on Doi Wow in Mae Sai overlooking Tachilek.

[Joel Barlow]

OK!!! Here it is (drum roll)

The long awaited, anxiously anticipated

SCORPION PIC!!!!!!

1400 species of scorpions (arachnids with front pinchers and tails with venomous stingers) are mostly nocturnal desert-dwellers (living under stones or in cracks). Average size is about 2.5 inches, but the “false scorpion” is small enough to live in books. They’re found on all major landmasses except Greenland and Antarctica, from below sea-level to 16,000 feet (5000 meters); one species lives deep in caves. They breed in the warm months; males that remain near females after insemination sometimes get killed and eaten by their ‘mates’. The mother invests time and energy in offspring, carrying them on her back after live-birthing. Scorpions obtain food as sit-and-wait predators. They sense tiny ground and air vibrations, and sometimes kill lizards, snakes and rodents. The venom of about 25 species, in 8 genera, can be lethal to humans. My pic may be of an Emperor Scorpion, but we’ve 18 other species around…

Now, back to the big question - what's the diff twixt maeng mahn and maeng mao? c'mon...

another pic (wish I know where'd they'd end up after I click "upload"):

jakatan

these little cuties aren't aggressive, nice but irratible and when annoyed make a lot of noise - so kids sometimes keep 'em on a string for automatic (live!) noise-makers! big fun! try it!

Edited May 11, 2007 by Joel Barlow

[chownah]

Now, back to the big question - what's the diff twixt maeng mahn and maeng mao? c'mon...

I'm not sure what you are asking....I suppose that ultimately the difference is in the dna. The maeng mao goes something like atcgccgttaaccg while the maeng mahn goes something like ccgtaacccgggga. Or something like that...I might be getting them backwards though.

chownah

[Joel Barlow]

"The maeng mao goes something like atcgccgttaaccg while the maeng mahn goes something like ccgtaacccgggga. Or something like that...I might be getting them backwards"

Well, thanks for that Steuart. I thought the jakataan was the sound-maker! Please, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd gotten the impression some eat maeng mahn, but not maeng mao. Is it because some DNA tastes better than other?

[chownah]

Joel Barlow,

I was in a strange mood when I posted here last...I'll try to make more sense today.

The meng mahn and the meng mao are two different but (probably) related bugs. It is the female of the meng mahn that is usually eaten and is identified by her larger body. I've only eaten the female meng mahn so I

really can't comment on the difference in flavor.

I can't describe the visual difference enough for you to be able to differentiate among them....better to ask someone with a candidate in hand...or possibly got to the market and buy some to see what they look like. Sorry I can't be more help.

Chownah

P.S. The strings of c's, t's, a's, and g's wasn't supposed to be the sound they make it was supposed to be a string of base pairs on the dna strands.....pretty stupid I know....I guess we all have our moods.

Chownah

[sceadugenga]

Joel Barlow,

I was in a strange mood when I posted here last...I'll try to make more sense today.

The meng mahn and the meng mao are two different but (probably) related bugs. It is the female of the meng mahn that is usually eaten and is identified by her larger body. I've only eaten the female meng mahn so I

really can't comment on the difference in flavor.

I can't describe the visual difference enough for you to be able to differentiate among them....better to ask someone with a candidate in hand...or possibly got to the market and buy some to see what they look like. Sorry I can't be more help.

Chownah

P.S. The strings of c's, t's, a's, and g's wasn't supposed to be the sound they make it was supposed to be a string of base pairs on the dna strands.....pretty stupid I know....I guess we all have our moods.

Chownah

I emailed a guy with quite a good Northern Thailand bug website yesterday and he got back to me and said they're Isoptera, or termites. I wasn't really in research mode but I'm not sure I agree with that.

[ovenman]

I emailed a guy with quite a good Northern Thailand bug website yesterday and he got back to me and said they're Isoptera, or termites. I wasn't really in research mode but I'm not sure I agree with that.

A Thai friend told me the same thing and I was also skeptical. I did a little reading about termites and couldn't find any indication that being a 'winged creature' was part of their life cycle, but I wasn't all that thorough in my scholarly endeavors.

[sceadugenga]

I emailed a guy with quite a good Northern Thailand bug website yesterday and he got back to me and said they're Isoptera, or termites. I wasn't really in research mode but I'm not sure I agree with that.

A Thai friend told me the same thing and I was also skeptical. I did a little reading about termites and couldn't find any indication that being a 'winged creature' was part of their life cycle, but I wasn't all that thorough in my scholarly endeavors.

No, they definitely fly, it's part of there life cycle, but there's about 4000 species. (Wikopedia).

It's just I always think of them as little white house munching critters.

[chownah]

I emailed a guy with quite a good Northern Thailand bug website yesterday and he got back to me and said they're Isoptera, or termites. I wasn't really in research mode but I'm not sure I agree with that.

A Thai friend told me the same thing and I was also skeptical. I did a little reading about termites and couldn't find any indication that being a 'winged creature' was part of their life cycle, but I wasn't all that thorough in my scholarly endeavors.

No need to be scholarly here in the 21st century....just google "winged termites" and all will be revealed.

chownah

[ovenman]

A Thai friend told me the same thing and I was also skeptical. I did a little reading about termites and couldn't find any indication that being a 'winged creature' was part of their life cycle, but I wasn't all that thorough in my scholarly endeavors.

No, they definitely fly, it's part of there life cycle, but there's about 4000 species. (Wikopedia).

It's just I always think of them as little white house munching critters.

No need to be scholarly here in the 21st century....just google "winged termites" and all will be revealed.

So much for my scholarly endeavors. I never was all that much with biology.

Looking at just termites wasn't getting me anywhere but winged termites does the trick. Many references from exterminator-type companies.

[chownah]

Meng mahn cohabitate with a species of small ants as far as I can tell....if you spot the hole in the ground from which the females emerge and disturb the soil a bit around the hole you will often see a swarm of very tiny ants. Sometimes people will dig up a meng mahn nest and collect them along with their eggs. When this is done there are always alot of those tiny ants present and the Thais say that these are the mothers....I think that the small ants appear to be caring for the eggs of the meng mahn but I'm not sure and have only seen this (an exposed nest) on a couple of occasions.

chownah