Richard Blais is cooking and eating bugs now.The celebrity chef and reality TV star has teamed up with pest-control giant Orkin for a new culinary experiment called "Bug Bites," in which he taste-tests an array of edible insects, ranging from ants and mealworms to scorpions and tarantulas.The digital series, expected to debut on Aug. 19, aims to blend entertainment with a dose of culinary education and maybe even some viewer squeamishness.AMERICANS SHOULD EAT MORE OF THESE INVASIVE ANIMALS, SAY EXPERTS"I got together with Orkin and one of their entomologists and we decided we were going to go through a progression of tasting different insects," Blais told Fox News Digital from his home kitchen in California."Bug bites, literally." (See the video at the top of this article.)But Blais, who is a judge on Fox's "Next Level Chef" and was the season four champion of "Top Chef: All-Stars," hasn't traded in steaks for insects permanently."I'm not the chef who only cooks insects," Blais said. "If you had asked me a year ago, 'What are the foods you don't like to eat when you're on set or you're on a TV show?' I would say insects."GAS STATION FOOD IS 'EXTRAORDINARY' AND 'HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT,' SAYS TOP CHEFBlais views it as a reality show competition one that happens to involve creepy crawlers."I would 100% watch something if it was like, 'Here's this guy. He's about to eat a tarantula,'" Blais said. "Just the entertainment value of it that's interesting to me.""Bug Bites" features five gourmet recipes with bugs on the menu.The meals range from a soft-shell tarantula sushi roll and mealworm pesto with spaghetti to scorpion fried rice and vanilla ice cream topped with black ants.CELEBRITY CHEF GUY FIERI'S MESSAGE TO AMERICANS: LET'S 'EAT BETTER' TO LIVE BETTER"The joke on set was Orkin's the best in pest and I'm the best in pesto," Blais said.He was surprised by the flavor discoveries, he said."It's a grasshopper, but it tastes like lavender, or they're ants, but they taste like citrus, or these specifically taste a little bit more like licorice, then that becomes really fascinating," Blais said.He noted the entomologist made sure the ingredients were safe to eat.CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTERBut he doesn't expect bug burgers to show up on restaurant menus in the near future."I think it's a novelty for sure," Blais said."I think there's a fun aspect to it. Do I think that cricket flower being used in a lot of baked goods or insects as part of a protein source is something that could be valuable to the world? Yes Will it become popularized? You know, probably not any time soon."Blais said he'll always have a soft spot for traditional cuisine.On the eve of his interview with Fox News Digital, Blais said he ate an eight-ounce medium-rare filet at one of his restaurants with "no insects on top."For more Lifestyle articles, visitwww.foxnews.com/lifestyle"I'm sort of the chef who loves hamburgers and pizza and tacos and loves the everyday sort of foods, maybe more than the next chef," Blais said.Blais said he overcame "so many personal hangups" by challenging himself to try something new and encouraged others to keep an "open mind.""Try something once," he said."You don't have to like it. But try it."