Insect dishes are mostly eaten in high mountain areas, as is mentioned above, and insects selected as food were the larva of hornets, collectable in a sizeable quantity at one time, locusts which were easily collectable in large numbers in rice paddies, diving beetles which could be collected easily in the past merely by soaking the head and bony parts of a fish in a reservoir, and pupas and adult silkworms collectable in mass quantity as by-products in the manufacturing process of the silk thread.
具体的には、多くは前述のような山岳地帯で、一度の採集で大量の幼虫が確保できるスズメバチ類、水田で労せずして大量に採集できるイナゴ、かつては魚のあらなどをため池に浸しておくだけで大量に集めることができたゲンゴロウ、絹糸生産の副産物として大量に得られるカイコの蛹や成虫などが食材として選択されている。