![Robber fly feeding on wasp 2007-07](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Robber_fly_feeding_on_wasp_2007-07.jpg)
Entomophagy (, from Greek
ἔντομον ', 'insect', and
φαγεῖν ', 'to eat') is the practice of eating
insects
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of j ...
. An alternative term is
insectivory
A robber fly eating a hoverfly
An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects.
The first vertebrate insectivores wer ...
. Terms for organisms that practice entomophagy are ''entomophage'' and ''insectivore''.
Entomophagy is sometimes defined to also include the eating of
arthropod
Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and cuticle made of chiti ...
s other than insects, such as
arachnid
Arachnida () is a class of joint-legged invertebrate animals (arthropods), in the subphylum Chelicerata. Arachnida includes, among others, spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, camel spiders, whip spiders and vinegar ...
s and
myriapod
Myriapods () are the members of subphylum Myriapoda, containing arthropods such as millipedes and centipedes. The group contains about 13,000 species, all of them terrestrial.
The fossil record of myriapods reaches back into the late Silurian, ...
s; eating arachnids may also be referred to as
arachnophagy.
In non-humans
![Myresluger2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Myresluger2.jpg)
Entomophagy is widespread among many animals, including non-human
primates
Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians ( monkeys and apes, the latter including ...
.
Animals that feed primarily on insects are called
insectivore
A robber fly eating a hoverfly
An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects.
The first vertebrate insectivores were ...
s.
Insects,
nematodes
The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhabiting a broa ...
and
fungi
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately fr ...
that obtain their nutrition from insects are sometimes termed ''entomophagous'', especially in the context of
biological control
Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, such as insects, mites, weeds, and plant diseases, using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms, but typically also i ...
applications. These may also be more specifically classified into
predator
Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...
s,
parasites
Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson ha ...
or
parasitoids, while
virus
A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea.
Since Dmitri Ivanovsk ...
es,
bacteria
Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometr ...
and fungi that grow on or inside insects may also be termed ''entomopathogenic'' (see also
entomopathogenic fungi
An entomopathogenic fungus is a fungus that can kill or seriously disable insects.
Typical life cycle
These fungi usually attach to the external body surface of insects in the form of microscopic spores (usually asexual, mitosporic spores also ...
).
In humans
Entomophagy is scientifically described as widespread among non-human primates and common among many human communities.
The scientific term describing the practice of eating insects by humans is ''anthropo-entomophagy''. The eggs, larvae,
pupa
A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in thei ...
e, and adults of certain
insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...
s have been eaten by humans from prehistoric times to the present day. Around 3,000
ethnic groups practice entomophagy.
Human insect-eating (anthropo-entomophagy) is common to cultures in most parts of the world, including
Central and
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
,
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
,
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
,
Australia, and
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. Eighty percent of the world's nations eat insects of 1,000 to 2,000 species.
FAO
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...
has registered some 1,900
edible insect species and estimates that there were, in 2005, some two billion insect consumers worldwide. FAO suggests eating insects as a possible solution to
environmental degradation caused by
livestock
Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animal ...
production.
In some societies, primarily
western nations
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania. , entomophagy is uncommon or
taboo
A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...
.
Today, insect eating is uncommon in North America and Europe, but insects remain a popular food elsewhere, and some companies are trying to introduce
insects as food
Insects as food or edible insects are insect species used for human consumption. More than 2,000 insects species worldwide are considered edible. However, a much smaller number is discussed for industrialized mass production and partly regiona ...
into
Western diet
The Western pattern diet is a modern dietary pattern that is generally characterized by high intakes of pre-packaged foods, refined grains, red meat, processed meat, high-sugar drinks, candy and sweets, fried foods, conventionally-raised anim ...
s, despite massive pushback from local populations. A recent analysis of Google Trends data showed that people in Japan have become increasingly interested in entomophagy since 2013.
See also
*
Insects as feed
Insects as feed are insect species used as animal feed, either for livestock, including aquaculture, or as pet food.
Utility
Due to their nutritional profile, especially the high protein content, various types of insects can be used as feed for ...
*
Human interactions with insects
**
Insects in medicine
**
Insects as food
Insects as food or edible insects are insect species used for human consumption. More than 2,000 insects species worldwide are considered edible. However, a much smaller number is discussed for industrialized mass production and partly regiona ...
*
Taboo food and drink
Some people do not eat various specific foods and beverages in conformity with various religious, cultural, legal or other societal prohibitions. Many of these prohibitions constitute taboos. Many food taboos and other prohibitions forbid the mea ...
References
Further reading
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*
*
External links
*
Edible insects: Future prospects for food and feed securityRisk profile related to production and consumption of insects as food and feedEuropean Food Safety Authority 2015
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Ethology
Carnivory