He says that the most of scorpions and other critters destined for consumption come from HotlixвЂ™s own rural California insect farm. вЂњThey have a sweet-and-sour and dirt taste,вЂќ he said, with more than a little Willy Wonka in his voice.

Peterman says that Hotlix has a new item in the works: a gummy worm thatвЂ™s naturally a lot more worm than gummy. The current line of products now includes sour-cream-and-onion-flavored вЂњ Crick-ettesвЂќ and scorpion brittle, among other things. After a popular 1990 Newsweek profile, Hotlix began to create more insect-filled treats. The next round of flavors included a tequila-flavored sucker to which he added a worm as a final touch. вЂњI had bought a candy store and decided to expand the line a bit,вЂ™вЂ™ he told me in a phone interview. Peterman got into the confectionery business in the 1980s when he purchased a Pismo Beach, California, candy store known for its extremely hot cinnamon suckers and cinnamon toothpicks. It turns out it was all the idea of a guy named Larry Peterman, founder of Hotlix Candy. Seriously, why would anyone put scorpions in a lollipop?ДЄ scorpion encased in a Hotlix banana-flavored sucker. So I bought three insect suckers at the Five and Dime on the square in Santa Fe, New Mexico: two scorpion and one mealworm sucker at four dollars each. I decided that IвЂ™d be the second kind of tough. A certain percentage may actually buy one, I thought, but only a relative few of those people are willing to take the suckerвЂ™s dare.ДЄre you tough, or are you вЂњI eat f***ing scorpions!вЂќ tough? Or maybe they would pass it around to their friends and family for a few quick gasps of laughter or shock before putting it back. ItвЂ™s the sort of thing that I would have guessed (incorrectly, as it turned out) that most people probably ignore out of disinterest or disdain. ItвЂ™s like theyвЂ™re daring you to eat them in a classic test of machismo and intestinal fortitude, some ancient rite of passage. They're often seen sitting innocently in a cardboard display box near the cash register-cubes of translucent red, yellow, orange, or blue candy and flavoring on a stick-each one with a crunchy and dead surprise inside. They're the sort of thing that you generally find at gift shops and tourist traps across the West with names like Clines Corners or Wall Drug, usually competing for your attention with objets dвЂ™art like commemorative spoons, snow globes, jackalope postcards, t-shirts, shot glasses, bolo ties, and the other assorted road-trip detritus destined to be stuffed into a closet and forgotten forever the instant you get back home. Scorpion suckers aren't the sort of thing you typically find in the candy aisle of your local grocery store.

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