The clandestine individuality of the famous Mezcal worm has been give away in new inquiry that pull out DNA from bottled specimens . While there are several dirt ball commonly eaten in Mexico , where theagave - ground spirits are famous , it turns out that all of the worm sampled belonged to just a single mintage of moth .
They say you are what you deplete , but when doing shots like “ the one with the worm ” , how many of us know what that actually is ? Beyond consumer awareness , it devote to be aware of animals used in solid food and drink since it would be awkward to actualize when it ’s already too previous that you ’ve been knock back an endangered species .
“ It was not until the 1940–50s when the mezcal worm , also bang as the ‘ tequila worm ’ , was placed inside bottleful of non - tequila mescal before dispersion , ” explained the authors of the new work . “ These bottled larva increased public attention for mezcal , specially in Asia , Europe , and the United States . Despite these larvae gain worldwide interest , their identity has largely remained unsealed other than that they are larvae of one of three distantly related holometabolic worm . ”
Mezcal worms in the wild. Image credit: rogueadventurer viaiNaturalist(CC BY-NC-SA 4.0); cropped
The list of likely defendant for the Mezcal worm include around 63 specie , since at the larval stage a lot of them can face very interchangeable . One was thetequilagiant captain ( Aegiale hesperiaris ) , whose larvae eat the flesh of agave stanch and rootage so would seem a legitimate campaigner for ending up in the spirit .
When analyzing a sampling of 21 worms taken from Mezcal feeding bottle between 2018 and 2022 , researcher see that they too all look the same , with shared feature of speech including a trenchant head ejection seat and prolegs that wait emphatically lepidopteran ( the social club that includesbutterfliesandmoths ) .
uphold something in alcohol does n’t always do its deoxyribonucleic acid wonders , so in the end engender usable genetic fabric was only potential in 18 of the worms . The resolution give away that they were all the same species of moth , Comadia redtenbacheri , whose larva are know as the agave redworm . moreover , a morphological analysis of the Mezcal louse that could n’t be sequenced confirmed that they too were the agave redworm .
The agave redworm all grown up. Image credit: gcwarbler viaiNaturalist, (CC BY-NC 4.0)
As well as overseas consumers bask the Mezcal dirt ball , it ’s celebrated topically for its wellness benefits and beliefs that it ’s a aphrodisiac , explain the researcher , which is driving demand for more worm . In recent days it ’s gotten more difficult to obtain wild - caught larva like the agave redworm , and it could be that better practice in confined - rear the specie is needed if efficient great deal - production of wormy spirits , salt , powders , and garnish is to go forward in the region .
“ In response to the declining number of mezcal larva , research worker have begun to develop method to cultivate these larvae in captivity , ” explained the authors . “ There is still very little known about how serious to rear mezcal larvae and extra scientific research is needed to understand how captive insect facts of life can become a key part of the agricultural manufacture in Mexico . ”
The study is published in the journalPeerJ Life & Environment .
