Can (or should) we eat fish flies?

Annalise here, wondering why we don't talk about eating fish flies.

Hear me out. The other week, surrounded by swarms of these insects on the east side, I thought back to reports I read this spring about how to cook and eat cicadas .

• Trillions of cicadas were emerging across 16 states, bringing a natural opportunity to consider insect consumption (entomophagy, in case you were wondering).

The intrigue: As I walked past buildings covered in fish flies , watched my dog snap them out of the air and covered my mouth (at times) so I wouldn't accidentally inhale any, I wondered why I was hearing this about cicadas, but never about our own seasonal swarms.

Catch up quick: Fish fly season, around June, is a messy time for river- and lake-side communities. But experts consider the occurrence a positive, because fish flies' presence shows a healthy ecosystem, the Free Press reports .

I consulted Wade Syers, an MSU Extension food safety specialist who has written about insect consumption :

Cicadas are a particular target for these conversations because they're a "fun spectacle," they're quite large for insects, they have a "nutty flavor" and, per the EPA, are not harmful, Syers told Axios in an email.

• Syers says he doesn't hear about people wanting to eat fish flies, likely in part because most of their lives are spent underwater.
• But "people eat many different kinds of insects all over the world, and I do not know of any reason that under the right conditions, fish flies could not be eaten," he says.

Yes, but: In general, Syers doesn't recommend foraging for insects due to potential chemical and illness hazards.

• He suggests buying insect food products from reputable companies instead.