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<ul><li><keyword id="6554535" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Dhruv-Prajapati">Dhruv Prajapati</keyword> a young arachnological researcher from <keyword id="6354766" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gujarat">Gujarat</keyword> has identified seven confirmed new species of <keyword id="23924" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Spiders">spiders</keyword> in India.</li><li>He has named one of his discoveries Tropizodium <keyword id="5350457" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kalami">Kalami</keyword> after the country’s late President Dr APJ <keyword id="5141" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Abdul-Kalam">Abdul Kalam</keyword>.</li><li>He maintains that spiders are incredibly beneficial - they help regulate insect population and some species can even help determine soil toxicity.</li></ul>It’s tiny, it has eight legs, it is mostly harmless, yet it is one of the most feared creatures on Earth. Yes, we are talking about the humble, albeit slightly creepy, spider. And while most humans can’t resist picking up a broom to shoo the tiny arachnid away, a few stare at the creature with pure fascination. Dhruv Prajapati, a young researcher from Gujarat, is one of them. The 26-year-old has merged his passion with his studies and is one of very few arachnological researchers in India. In fact, while researching for his Master’s dissertation he managed to identify 77 species of spiders all within the Gujarat University campus in India. Some of these were quite rare and few knew of their existence in the state. In 2016, he was awarded the Young Naturalist Award by Sanctuary Asia, a well-known wildlife and nature conservation magazine from India. We spoke to the young man who is now pursuing a PhD in spider diversity from the Bharathiar University, Coimbatore. Over the past three years, he has conducted an in-depth study on these creatures spanning from the Western Ghats of Gujarat to Maharashtra, Goa and Kerala. 
	
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 During his research, Prajapati has identified seven confirmed new species of spiders in India. <ul><li>Two of these belong to the ant-eating spider genus Tropizodium that are incredibly rare and have for the first time been reported from India. He has named one of these Kalami, after the country’s late President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and the other is called viridurbium. </li><li>The third and the fourth species, Cambalida tuma and Cambalida deorsa, belong to the genus Cambalida that was so far believed to be endemic to Africa and were reported by Dhruv for the first time in Asia.</li><li>The fifth and the sixth species are from the jumping spider family Salticidae - Stenaelurillus gabrieli (named after Padmabhushan awardee Dr Fr. Gabriel CMI, founder of the zoology department in Sacred Heart College, Thevara, Kochi), and Langelurillus onyx. Langelurillus is also an African genus and was reported in Asia for the first time. </li><li>And the seventh one is Meotipa multuma from the family Theridiidae.</li></ul> All these new findings were published in <a href="http://www.mapress.com/j/zt/">Zootaxa</a>, one of the world’s leading scientific journals from New Zealand. He is also working on a bunch of research papers on new species, which, when approved by the international reviewers, will be added to his kitty of discoveries. On being questioned on how dangerous the feared creatures are, he emphatically replied, “most species are not harmful. And while almost all species have a certain amount of venom, they can only harm small creatures that are their prey and if they happen to bite a human, which is quite rare, they can cause just a small infection.” That being said, Australian and North American spiders are much more venomous though they don’t attack humans very often. Not only are spiders supremely beneficial, some species are really quite pretty. A particular favourite of Prajapati’s is the peacock spider, that is found in Australia. Like birds, the male spiders court females by showing off their colourful abdomen, that have flaps which they raise while dancing, to impress the female. He also reiterated how important spiders are to our ecology. “Spiders help in regulating insect population. In fact, 80% of the insect population is eradicated by spiders, which is much more than that of birds, and this helps farmers significantly.” Ground spiders can also detect soil toxicity as they are sensitive to metal pollution in soil. And should they enter your homes, hold back your urge to screech and call for help, for they are also getting rid of the actual pests in your house, including mosquitoes and other bugs that bite, annoy and spread disease.

This 26-year-old has a strange passion for a creepy-crawly and has seven discoveries to his name

<ul class="summary-list"><li>I'm a food writer and will try anything at least once, including eating bugs. </li><li>I started adding insects to our meals to cut down our grocery bill. </li></ul>As a food writer, I've always been the type of person who will try anything — including <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.insider.com/why-you-should-eat-insects-2018-11">entomophagy</a>, otherwise known as <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.insider.com/eating-insects-set-to-become-8-billion-business-barclays-2019-6">eating insects</a>. I've tasted everything from fried tarantula legs to scorpion on a stick. I've also enjoyed crickets and ants when traveling to countries like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.insider.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-traveling-to-bangkok-thailand">Thailand</a> and Vietnam, and I loved how they were incorporated into local dishes to enhance their textural appeal.Back home in Toronto, I decided to add crickets into mealtimes with my 18-month-old baby. To be honest, it was not only adventurousness that compelled me to do it but practicality, too — I wanted to cut down on our family's grocery bill.With a baby, our food costs have spiked to about $250 to $300 a week. To supplement the rising prices, I decided to get <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://ca.entomofarms.com/products/actually-foods-cheese-puffs-powder-by-crickets">Cricket Puff snacks</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://ca.entomofarms.com/collections/cricket-powder">Cricket Protein Powder,</a> and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://ca.entomofarms.com/products/crickets-whole-organic">Whole Roasted Crickets</a> from <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://entomofarms.com/">Entomo Farms</a>. Because I've started rotating these insects with more traditionally expensive proteins like beef, chicken, and pork, I've managed to cut my bill down to about $150 to $200 a week.<h2>My baby is fearless when it comes to food</h2>My baby and I are both hopping (pun wholly intended) onto the cricket bandwagon. She's at the age where she's fearless and curious, so this is an opportune time to try more "exotic" foods that aren't considered a dietary staple in North America.Venus Kalami, a board-certified pediatric dietitian and nutritionist at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://solidstarts.com/">Solid Starts,</a> said that preferences around food begin to form in early childhood, and for babies and young children, positive mealtime experiences are key to building a healthy relationship with food. "During infancy, a child is particularly receptive to exploring a wide variety of foods — a strong argument for introducing insects early on and getting ahead of any negative stereotypes around eating bugs, such as being 'scary' or 'inedible,'" she told Insider.As it turns out, I'm actually late to the bug-consumption party with my little one. According to Kalami, I could have started her as young as 6 months old. "We encourage parents to bring baby to the table to share the family meal as soon as the child is ready to start eating solid foods. This typically happens around 6 months of age, and there are plenty of nutritious ways to share edible insects in an age-appropriate way with babies," she said.She explained that for safety reasons, crickets can be "modified' to a safe shape or consistency for babies. For instance, she says you can add ground crickets to warm porridges or mix them into purees and mashed foods. "Once baby has their pincer grasp, cricket and other edible insects may be served whole as finger food," she added.<div type="image" title="The author cooking with her baby" height="3024" width="4032" msid="99693096" hostid="261" sizebytes="799050"></div><h2>Insects are full of protein</h2>Eating bugs may seem like a novelty to many North Americans, but we're missing out because they're a nutritional powerhouse. Kalami said that "many insects are packed with key nutrients like high-quality protein, essential fatty acids, minerals like iron (some have more than beef) and zinc, vital B vitamins, and more."For example, a mere 2 tablespoons of cricket powder provides 100% of the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://elsenutrition.com/blogs/news/protein-needs-of-infants-and-toddlers">daily protein needs of a baby,</a> which for my 20 pound baby is nine to 14 grams a day, or 11 grams on average. Kalami also said that all these nutrients support neurocognitive development, help prevent iron-deficiency anemia, fuel immune function, and support taste perception. As a bonus, eating bugs will help your little one with being regular. "Insects are also one of the very few animal-based sources of fiber, which is important for supporting a baby's digestive system," Kalami said.The only thing to be mindful of when feeding kids bugs is allergies. "Parents of a child with shellfish allergy, specifically crustaceans, should also take care when sharing edible insects as there may be an increased risk of allergy," Kalami said. Our little one has no allergies or dietary restrictions so we proceeded with a bug tasting over a three-week period.<h2>My baby loved eating crickets 'hidden' in other food</h2>We first tried cricket cheese puffs — which look like Cheetos — and she took to them immediately. My baby devoured them with delight and didn't notice the slight textural difference. To me, compared to Cheetos, they taste far less salty and have a fibrous finish to them.<div type="image" title="Baby eating cricket puffs" height="3024" width="4032" msid="99693098" hostid="261" sizebytes="509628"></div>Next, I tried giving my baby whole roasted crickets. When I picked one out of the bag, I gave myself a jump scare: You could see their little heads, thoraxes, and abdomens all clustered together. I hate to admit it, but touching them was a little icky for me. Thankfully, I restrained my facial expressions, let her peer into the bag, and grab a cricket out for herself. Without hesitation, she took a bite — but promptly chucked the rest onto the floor. She shook her head and told me she wasn't interested.We had more success when the ground crickets were "hidden" in pancakes. You could see the black flecks in the batter, but my baby was unfazed by the appearance change. She took a big bite and clamored for more. I ate some and could understand why — you couldn't tell that crickets were in these fluffy cakes. The only difference was that they had a slightly nutty finish. For dinner, I sprinkled some of the powder into our mac-and-cheese sauce, tossed it with some pasta shells, and again, she couldn't taste anything different. She then made the sign for "more" — it was a winner.In the future, I have plans to incorporate more edible insects into our meals, such as ants, grasshoppers, and worms, which Kalami said are a fantastic source of protein and other key nutrients that babies need, such as iron and zinc. In the meantime, it will take a bit more repetition and cooking creativity on my part before eating bugs becomes second nature in our family.

Crickets are a great source of protein, so I started adding them to my baby's food — and she loves them

You Searched For "Kalami" and got 2 results

This 26-year-old has a strange passion for a creepy-crawly and has seven discoveries to his name

Kavita Majumdar

Crickets are a great source of protein, so I started adding them to my baby's food — and she loves them

Tiffany Leigh

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