MIAMI – As a Florida medical examiner tries to determine how 32-year-old Edward Archbold died after eating insects during a contest to win a snake, people around the country are asking: Why?

Why would anyone eat a live cockroach? Why did he die when several others in the contest ate the same bugs without incident? What inspired Archbold — who was described by the snake store owner as "the life of the party" — to shovel handfuls of crickets, worms and cockroaches into his mouth?

While eating bugs is normal in many parts of the world, the practice is taboo in the U.S. and many western countries.