[1] Before their emigration to Israel in the mid-20th century, the Jewish communities of Yemen and parts of northern Africa, ate certain species which they preserved a tradition to be kosher,[2] and they continue to do so occasionally to this day.

The terms used in the Bible refer to color and broad morphological generalities shared by many Middle-Eastern species.

[5] However, Rabbi Yose's opinion is more restrictive: like the Bible, it requires a specific type name, not just physical characteristics.

[20] According to Yemenite Jewish tradition, the edible locust referred to in the Torah is identified by the figure resembling the Hebrew letter chet (ח) on the underside of the thorax.

The greyish or brownish Egyptian locust is thought by some to belong to the category of hagav,[29] though other opinions identify it with tziporet hakeramim (a variation of arbeh).

[32] In the Jewish community of Djerba, the consumption of locusts was forbidden by a takkanah of Rabbi Aharon Perez in the mid-18th century.

[33] According to his letter to Rabbi David Eliyahu Hajaj, eating locusts was still an accepted practice in Tunisia at the time.

Although Perez was consumer of locusts himself, he quit the habit after reading Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar's book Peri To`ar, and moved in favor to prohibit consumption.

[5] However, as the practice was still widely accepted in the city of Tunis—the rabbinical court of which was considered to have the higher authority—Perez kept his decision to himself without making it public.

After the prohibition against eating locusts was finally declared in Tunis, Perez encouraged banning the practice in Djerba as well.

[35] A variety of reasons have been advanced in opposition to ibn Attar's thesis, arguing that this comment of Rashi's should not be the basis for modern halacha.

[43] Rabbis Herschel Shachter, Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, and Yosef Qafih explicitly note that the consumption of kosher species of locusts is permitted.