Commentary for Avodah Zarah 52:5
מיתיבי אכל פרעוש אחד או יתוש אחד הרי זה מומר והא הכא דלהכעיס הוא וקתני מומר התם בעי למיטעם טעמא דאיסורא
They objected: If one eats a flea or a gnat he is an apostate. Now here this must have been done to provoke, and yet we are taught that he is merely an apostate! Even in there he may just be trying to see what a forbidden thing tastes like.
Daf Shevui to Avodah Zarah
One probably does not eat a flea or a gnat because one is hungry. Not much nourishment there. One eats a small bug does so only to provoke—because it is forbidden. This seems to prove that even one who sins in order to provoke is still an apostate and not a heretic. The Talmud rejects this and suggests that the person may have eaten the bug neither to provoke nor to feed his hunger. He may have just been curious as to what a forbidden thing tastes like.
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