The insects are fried into a dish. Photo: screenshot of video posted by the Pear Video

Several women from the village of Leshan, Southwest China's Sichuan Province are adding to the repertoire of exotic eatable insects, which appear to have been previously shunned because they stink. 

A video posted by the Pear Video shows the women overturning river rocks and collecting what appears to be a variety of beetle that are literally called stink bugs.   

The women appear to have developed their own technique for handling the stink bugs that includes soaking them in water before frying them in oil. The women say that while the bugs are high in protein they still don't have anywhere near a pleasant aroma, but are delectable. 

"The bugs just smell bad but taste very delicious, they can also treat rheumatic diseases," said one of the women without citing any medical studies.

Stink bugs are an invasive species that are most plentiful in the fall.

"They can fetch a high price, about 300 yuan ($42) a kilogram," another village told Pear Video as she turned over rocks and picked up one of the bugs. The video shows the woman allowing a dozen of the collected bugs crawl over her hand.