It’s the gift you both can share

Because it’s gonna take at least two of you to finish it up, that’s for sure. At least, if your valentine is entomophobic.

Komatsuya Honten, a bakery in Akita, bakes treats in the shape of rhinoceros beetles and their larvae. No worries, as they’re straight-up chocolate, but they look just like the critters some of you used to catch and keep in your childhood. Not me, as I never went after animals bigger than me. As nasty as they might look, they sometimes sell out within an hour, says the shop keeper.

Writer Matt Alt tried the ¥2,100 “Kabuto-Mushi Cake Lovely Pack,” which crawled with two larvae candies and a beetle cake. They sound pretty tasty:

The beetles are cake enrobed in a rich dark chocolate, with chocolate-dipped fruit slices used for thin parts like legs and horns. The larvae are milk chocolate with crisped rice mixed in…

So, remember: human ears taste like chicken, bugs taste like chocolate and the continued existence of this shop tastes like victory in the War on Animals.