Insect tea facts for kids

Insect tea is a special kind of drink. It's not always like regular tea. It's made from plant leaves that insects have nibbled on, or from the tiny droppings (poop) of insects that have eaten certain plants. Most insect teas come from places in Southeast Asia. People often use them in their local traditional medicine.

How Insects Help Make Tea

Many different insect teas are made by small communities, especially in the hill areas of Southeast Asia. This includes parts of southern China and Thailand. Not all the insects or plants used to make these teas have been fully studied.

Here are some examples of insects and the plants they eat to help make these teas:

• A tea called Dongfang meiren is made with the help of tiny insects called Empoasca onukii leafhoppers. These leafhoppers feed on the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant, which is where regular tea comes from.
• Another tea, Sanye, is made from the droppings of Aglossa dimidiatus moth larvae. These larvae eat the leaves of the Malus sieboldii tree, which is a type of crabapple.
• Huaxiang tea comes from the droppings of another moth, Hydrillodes repugnalis. This moth feeds on the Platycarya strobilacea tree, which is related to walnuts.
• A different tea is made from the droppings of the Pyralis farinalis moth. This moth eats the Litsea coreana tree, a type of laurel.
• In Malaysia, Chinese people make a special tea from the droppings of the Eurycnema versirubra stick insect. They use this tea to help with different health problems.
• Another tea is made from the droppings of Andraca theae insects, which also feed on the Camellia sinensis tea plant.

Traditional Uses and Health Claims

Plants have many natural chemicals that help protect them from insects. But insects have special ways to eat these plants anyway. Sometimes, the insects' droppings can have a lot of certain chemicals. These chemicals can give the teas unique flavors and might be thought to have health effects. Insect teas are often used in traditional Asian medicine, especially in China.

Some studies have looked into the possible effects of these teas. For example, a study from China in 2015 found that certain plant chemicals from huaxiang tea might help reduce liver cancer cells in lab tests. However, more research is needed to understand these effects fully.

Since the early 2000s, some drinks claiming to be sanye tea have been sold, especially in Western countries. These drinks often have other ingredients and are marketed as dietary supplements. They sometimes claim to help with weight loss, act as a laxative, or help with "detoxification." However, these claims are not proven by science.