“Man Was Not Made to Eat Spiders”: Ranking the 8 Grossest Pests Eaten on Good Mythical Morning

Welcome to the next installment of our discussion of the strange and scary creatures eaten on the wildly-successful YouTube channel Good Mythical Morning. Hosted by lifelong best friends Rhett and Link, this show provides entertainment for all kinds of interests, from food to life hacks to music to game shows. But the videos involving food – from restaurants, store shelves, or their own Mythical Kitchen – seem to be consistently the most popular, and for good reason. The food alone is interesting enough to focus on, but the reactions of the two hosts make for a re-watchable experience. Their brotherly dynamic is even more entertaining when they have to endure the horror of eating insects and other creatures that are not normally consumed in this setting. 

Our last blog on GMM was all about the pests that make unfortunate guest appearances in their famous “Will It…” series, like “Will It Donut” and “Will It Macaroni and Cheese.” But this time, this ranking of consumed pests is all about random occurrences of eating insects and arachnids on the show. As before, the ranking of least scary (8) to scariest (1) is subjective and just based on how nightmare-inducing the idea of eating the pest is through reactionary observation and visuals. The videos will all be listed in the Citations section, and you can always make your own ranking if you have the stomach to handle watching these pest-filled videos.

8.  Tiny Flies – “Gross Animal Food Taste Test”

Considering the fact that the only insect consumed during this video is a few tiny flies, it makes sense why it’s this low on the list. The premise of this episode is competing to see who eats the animal and who eats the animal’s food. For the fly round, the options were to either eat the frog or its food, of which flies are likely the better option. It should be noted that this is a blind guess based on who gets the animal trivia question correct, and the winner has to choose if they want to eat some form of the animal or their food. Link got stuck with the flies, but this actually turned out to be the better end of the deal, since Rhett had to force down some boiled frog legs. According to Link, the flies were “tasteless” and didn’t affect him after he swallowed. They don’t look big enough to make a difference in anyone’s diet, and are probably the best option if you have to eat a bug for a dare, for whatever reason. Compared to the other items on this ranking, some small flies are nothing to shake a stick at.

7. Tarantula Cotton Candy – “Cotton Candy Taste Test”

We have already arrived at the first horrific pest food, which does not bode well for the rest of the list. This is another blind taste test where both hosts are blindfolded and have to guess the strange flavor of homemade cotton candy based on taste and smell. As per usual with this show, the last round is scary enough to stick with you after the video ends. The tarantula cotton candy is gray, alarmingly dusty, and peppered with whole tarantulas for visual aesthetic and edible terror. Upon first inspection, Rhett and Link didn’t think it seemed edible based on the bad smell that was coming from the fairy floss. The sugar content did come through and provided that classic cotton candy taste, but it was not enough to make this treat appealing in any way. After guessing substances that relate to the body just based on the smell, Link gave the winning guess of “tarantulas” and pulled off his blindfold, only to shriek in horror at the dusty cloud of arachnids that his face was previously buried in. Cotton candy is one of the major perks of going to the fair, but this is one flavor that we don’t think will catch on.

6. Leeches – “Fish Bait Taste Test”

The title of this video is enough to turn many people’s stomachs, but the actual taste test is even worse. As with most episodes on this list, this is a blind game where one host knows which bait is waiting in the open tackle box and the other chooses to switch places based on the knower’s reactions. Some of the bait options were controversial at worst, like Spam and clams, but leeches are more than a little gross-sounding. Rhett had the misfortune of eating two plain leeches, which he did not seem to struggle with too much. He likened them to cooked pasta, a more pleasant thought than the actual dark leeches at hand. The only saving grace of the leeches was their small size, but it’s still not something we recommend doing at any time. Since these predatory worms eat blood, the idea of eating them is even worse than just your average insect.

5. Loaded Tarantula – “Food Minesweeper”

Tarantulas seem to be a frequent guest of the show, but not in the fun way that many celebrity guests have been over the years. This game was not a blind guessing game in the previous sense, but it did center on the strategy guessing game of Minesweeper, the older computer game. The basic premise of Minesweeper is to click on identical boxes, one at a time, and each one either contains a “mine” or a number that shows how many mines are surrounding it. The life-size game that Rhett and Link played resulted in their having to eat something from the color of bucket that corresponded with the mine they just uncovered. In Rhett’s red bucket, the worst category, there were loaded tarantulas. The “loaded” part of the arachnid is the best part, since it was the typical toppings of a loaded baked potato: sour cream, cheese, bacon, and chives. And while it seemed to help matters, it wasn’t easy for Rhett to fully consume the nightmare creature. The combination of crunch and juice that came about were enough for him to take a knee while chewing, and he only swallowed after he beat his chest in a classic attempt to hype himself up.

4. Male Rhino Beetle – “Eating Boiled Beetles”

The rhino beetle is already a night terror in itself, with its rhino-like projection and weird amount of strength, but it gets worse when you witness someone eat it. One entire episode of Good Mythical More, the paired YouTube channel that posts a more laid-back video related to that day’s Good Mythical Morning, was dedicated to Link trying to eat just one of these beetles. Most of it was spent with him staring at the black beetle and trying to get the courage, but the last few minutes are entertaining enough with him actually chewing. The boiled beetle sparked a conversation with basically just Rhett talking, once again, about how the apocalypse would require everyone to live off of bugs for protein, and that this is good practice. Link’s noting that he had to swallow the inner “juices” first in order to take the tough exoskeleton prompted the Mythical Crew to note that it may have been better to take off the head with the sharp horn. Link did eventually consume the beetle with the help of water, but this is one source of protein we’ll pass on.

3. Live Black Beetle – “Meal or No Meal”

Speaking of celebrity guests from earlier, this episode guest-starred actress Shay Mitchell, who was unfortunately a part of a meal from the scariest alternate reality. Among the other “delicacies” of this feast, including a century egg and lamb brain, Link’s living black beetle was definitely the course to end the meal on. Once again, the fact that the beetle is still alive and kicking makes the idea of eating it a million times worse than an already dead pest. This game was similar to the Bait Taste Test in that one person had to choose whether to switch places or not based on the reactions of the other person who knows one of the dishes. After humorously chanting, “Crunch, crunch, swallow, show him who’s boss” to really hype himself up, Link finally chomped the beetle and actually got it down. He compared the taste to some kind of oil you would use to clean something, which does not sound appetizing in the slightest. 

2. Dung Beetles – “Eating a Scorpion: Bug War”

Anything with the word “dung” in the name should never be consumed by anyone, in our humble opinion. This first edition of their Bug War was about eating insects without any other toppings or distractions. Basically, this video combined the card game of War (where the higher card number wins) with an insect taste test, and the loser of the round has to eat the same number of insects as their card. None of the rounds are very appetizing – with offerings like squash bugs, grasshoppers, weaver ants, and katydids – but the two worst rounds are at the end, of course. The titular punishment of the scorpion went to Link, which is horrifying in its own right, but the dung beetles that Rhett had to consume could be argued as the worse punishment. They are small but mighty in the pure stench of their home and food that is given away in their name, which makes for an awful dining experience. While struggling to eat the first dung beetle, Rhett claimed he would “rather eat dung,” which wouldn’t be much better, in our opinion.

1. Bug Burrito – “Eating a Bug Burrito: Bug War 2”

This second, and seemingly final, edition of Bug War was a little more involved in terms of preparing the insects first, but it did not help too much. Instead of immediately eating the insects after the round of War was over, the loser would put them in a tortilla to eat as a burrito later. The winner got to choose normal burrito toppings, like lettuce and beans, so winning the game of War was never more important than in this moment. Each round of pests was explained by entomophagist Aly Moore, who specializes in normalizing the consumption of flavorful insects. If you have seen this show enough, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Link’s bad luck caused him to end up with a burrito almost exclusively made of insects, with the exception of his hated tomatoes. Rhett had to put June beetles in his otherwise delicious creation, but considering that Link’s had rhino beetles, sago grubs, queen weaver ants, a scorpion, and June beetles, Link definitely got the worst burrito in history.

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Citations

Good Mythical Morning. (2014, March 28). Eating a scorpion: Bug war challenge. Good Mythical Morning. [Video]. YouTube. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aICCLnBMJ5U&list=WL&index=13 (Accessed on June 14, 2022).

Good Mythical Morning. (2015, October 23). Meal or no meal ft. Shay Mitchell. Good Mythical Morning. [Video]. YouTube. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8411lsU1ArA&list=WL&index=11 (Accessed on June 14, 2022).

Good Mythical Morning. (2016, April 22). Fish bait taste test. Good Mythical Morning. [Video]. YouTube. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Txj57D_9Kw&list=WL&index=5 (Accessed on June 14, 2022).

Good Mythical Morning. (2016, May 6). Gross animal food taste test. Good Mythical Morning. [Video]. YouTube. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu001Pywbs4&list=WL&index=12 (Accessed on June 14, 2022).

Good Mythical Morning. (2017, March 13). Eating boiled beetles. Good Mythical More. [Video]. YouTube. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MShx68KLPEU&list=WL&index=4 (Accessed on June 14, 2022).

Good Mythical Morning. (2017, September 8). Food Minesweeper. Good Mythical Morning. [Video]. YouTube. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nL4frtSLfM&list=WL&index=6 (Accessed on June 14, 2022).

Good Mythical Morning. (2017, November 24). Eating a bug burrito – Bug war challenge #2. Good Mythical Morning. [Video]. YouTube. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44kWUgFk7Ro&list=WL&index=13 (Accessed on June 14, 2022).

Good Mythical Morning. (2017, December 7). Cotton candy taste test. Good Mythical Morning. [Video]. YouTube. Available at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HosLBTuJh00&list=WL&index=2 (Accessed on June 14, 2022).