Who’s all in favor of eating cicadas? The scientists who study them. John Kelly On the morning of June 1, 1885, a newspaper reporter hungry for a story stopped by the home of Charles Valentine Riley on 13th Street NW. Riley was the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief entomologist: a bug expert. He was just finishing his morning meal when a servant ushered in his visitor. “Bring in some hot ones,” Riley said to the servant. Soon, the journalist was presented with a “spoonful of dark brown objects like very small fried oysters.” Underneath a crust of breadcrumbs was something that resembled “a very small shrimp.”