Las Vegas insect invasion hops onto local menu
The grasshopper invasion that flew into Las Vegas a week ago shows no signs of letting up, and some along the city's famous Strip are ready to turn the tables on the unwelcome visitors.
It started with specials on the classic cocktail, The Grasshopper, and now the owner of the pizza restaurant Evel Pie is taking things a step further.
"I always try to (use) interesting ingredients and create interesting pizza combinations," Brandon Powers, who serves rattlesnake sausage pizza at the Evel Knievel-themed restaurant, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
And now he's adding the Canyon Hopper pizza to the menu. It comes topped with goat cheese, chorizo, a grassy bed of arugula, and a sprinkling of fried, seasoned grasshoppers.
The 'hoppers adorning Evel Pie's special offering are food-grade insects imported from Mexico, and early reviews seem pretty positive for the pest-topped pizza.
They're definitely more positive than reviews for the insects themselves, which may be hanging around for several weeks, according to experts.
While the insects have been prolific around the Las Vegas Strip, other residents have reported relatively few in the rest of the city. The Strip's bright lights are partly to blame for this. Grasshoppers are attracted to lights in general, but particularly ones higher on the ultraviolet spectrum -- not unlike many of the ones lighting up the city's most famous destination.
There are so many of the insects they've even been showing up on weather radar, and prompting the local weather service to issue advisories for 'reduced visibility due to blowing grasshoppers.'
This year's bumper crop of bugs is thanks to an unusually wet spring in the region and it may be several weeks before they continue on their migration path. Until then, the grasshoppers happening in Vegas will be staying in Vegas.
Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal |
