Entomophagy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Entomophagy is the habit of eating insects as food. Entomophagy is seen in a large number of taxonomic groups including insects (that eat other insects), birds and mammals.

The term is also used to describe human insect-eating habits that are common in some cultures in parts of the world including Central and South America, Africa, Asia and Australia, but uncommon and even taboo in some societies.

1 Insects as human food
2 Entomophagy in other contexts
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Insects as human food

Some insects are eaten as larvae, others as adults. Over 1200 species of insects are used as food by people throughout the world. Commonly eaten insects and arachnids include grasshoppers, crickets, termites, ants, beetle larvae (grubs), moth caterpillars and pupae, spiders, tarantulas, and scorpions.

Some people propose the development of entomophagy to provide a major source of protein in human nutrition. Insects contain more essential amino acids then most meats (including beef and chicken). Protein production for human consumption would be more effective and cost less ressources then animal protein. This makes insect meat more ecological then vertebrate meat.

Since it is impossible to entirely eliminate pest insects from the human food chain, insects already are present in many foods, especially grains. Most people do not realize that food laws in many countries do not prohibit insect parts in food, but rather limit the quantity.

The cultural materialist anthropologist Marvin Harris has suggested that the eating of insects is taboo in cultures that have other protein sources that require less work to obtain, like farm birds or cattle. However, cultures in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe have strong cattle-raising traditions and also eat insects, such as the mopane worm.

[edit] Entomophagy in other contexts

Many insects are entomophagous and these are usually classified into predators and parasitoids. Nematodes that live within insects (parasites) are also termed entomophagous. Some bacteria and fungi are also known to growing on or inside insects and these usually cause the death of their hosts.