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Insects as food or edible insects are insect species used for human consumption. [1] Over 2 billion people are estimated to eat insects on a daily basis. [ 2 ] Globally, more than 2,000 insect species are considered edible, though far fewer are discussed for industrialized mass production and regionally authorized for use in food.
Robber fly feeding on wasp. Fried saturniid caterpillars being served on bread for human consumption. Entomophagy (/ ˌɛntəˈmɒfədʒi /, from Greek ἔντομον éntomon, 'insect', and φαγεῖν phagein, 'to eat') is the practice of eating insects. An alternative term is insectivory. [ 1 ][ 2 ] Terms for organisms that practice ...
- History
- Insect Consumption in Human Cultures
- Rejection and Cultural Taboo
- Promotion
- Debate
- See Also
- External Links
Precursors of humans and insect consumption
Evidence suggests that evolutionary precursors of Homo sapiens were entomophagous and arachnophagous. Insectivory also features to various degrees amongst extant primates, such as marmosets and tamarins, and some researchers suggest that the earliest primates were nocturnal, arboreal insectivores.Similarly, most extant apes are insectivorous to some degree. The archaeological record, in the form of bone tools with wear marks, shows that early hominids such as Australopithecus robustus would g...
Coprolites and cave paintings
Before humans had tools to hunt or farm, insects may have represented an important part of their diet. Evidence has been found analyzing coprolites from caves in the US and Mexico. Coprolites in caves in the Ozark Mountains were found to contain insects (ants, beetle larvae, lice), as well as arachnids (ticks, mites). Cave paintings in Altamira, north Spain, which have been dated from about 30,000 to 9,000 BC, depict the collection of edible insects and wild bee nests, suggesting a possibly e...
Many cultures embrace the eating of insects. Edible insects have long been used by ethnic groups in Asia, Africa, Mexico and South America as cheap and sustainable sources of protein. Up to 2,086 species are eaten by 3,071 ethnic groups in 130 countries. The species include 235 butterflies and moths, 344 beetles, 313 ants, bees and wasps, 239 grass...
Within Western culture, entomophagy (barring some food additives, such as carmine and shellac) is seen as taboo. The disgust associated with the taboo is used in Western media. For example, a scene in the 1962 Italian film Mondo Cane features an insect banquet for shock effect, and a scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) features i...
The U.S. Food and Agriculture Organization has displayed an interest in developing entomophagy on multiple occasions. In 2008, the FAO organized a conference to "discuss the potential for developing insects in the Asia and Pacific region." According to Durst, FAO efforts in entomophagy will focus on regions in which entomophagy has been historicall...
Advantages of eating insects
Assessments of the potential of large-scale entomophagy have led some experts to suggest insects as a potential alternative protein source to conventional livestock, citing possible benefits including greater efficiency, lower resource use, increased food security, and environmental and economic sustainability.
"Edible insects". New Scientist. 193 (2595): 56. 2007. doi:10.1016/s0262-4079(07)60691-5. S2CID 239080242.DeFoliart, Gene R. (29 September 2002). "The Human Use of Insects as a Food Resource: A Bibliographic Account in Progress". University of Wisconsin–Madison. Archived from the originalon 24 February...Toms, Rob; Thagwana, Mashudu (2003). "Eat your bugs - harvesting edible stink-bugs". Science in Africa. Archived from the originalon 16 April 2011.Menzel, Peter; D'Aluisio, Faith (1998). Man Eating Bugs: The Art and Science of Eating Insects. Ten Speed Press. ISBN 978-1-58008-022-4.Examples are social insects, such as ants, and especially termites, and locusts that migrate in hordes of millions of individuals. Some human societies actually utilize insects as a major source of protein. Locusts (actually grasshoppers) are used by various African groups consistently as food. The locust individuals are gathered in the early ...
- Ants. Many varieties of ants are edible; Leafcutter, Honeypot and Lemon being some of the most popular. The Chinese keep warm in the winter months with a hot ant soup.
- Bee Larvae. Turns out that bees aren’t great simply for the honey they produce! The indigenous people just about anywhere like to eat bees in their larvae stage, and they’ve been described to taste like almonds or peanuts.
- Beetles. Especially in Amazon and certain parts of Africa, but also other regions with dense forests (regardless of how tropical they may or may not be), it’s common to eat beetles.
- Caterpillars. Not all species of caterpillars are edible, but many of them thankfully are. Thus, various countries in Africa like to bring caterpillars to the dinner table as there are an abundance of caterpillars in the wild.
Jul 3, 2024 · Entomophagy: A Resource Guide. Insects have been eaten by humans for tens of thousands of years, and they still retain an important place as a traditional food in many parts of the world. This guides provides access to resources for research on human consumption of insects as food.
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Feb 26, 2021 · He knew that crickets were healthy, and that they were high in protein, iron and vitamin B-12. But the psychological barriers were equally high. He started with a roasted, salted cricket. It took ...
