Nsenene is the Luganda name for ''Ruspolia differens'': a bush cricket (a.k.a. katydids or misnamed "long-horned grasshoppers") in the tribe Copiphorini of the 'cone-head' subfamily. It is often confused with the closely related '' Ruspolia nitidula''.

Distribution and traditional beliefs

This species has long been known as one of the many totems of Buganda Kingdom of Uganda. They were founded by Seruwu Douglass from Ssese Islands in Masaka. This species is a delicacy in central and south-western

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

, as well as an important source of income. The

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 ...

is also found in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...

, Ivory Coast, Congo,

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Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

, Burundi,

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, Rwanda,

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

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, and

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

. Traditionally in Uganda, ''nsenene'' were collected by children and women. They were given to the women's husbands in return for a new ''gomasi'' (a traditional dress for women). Although the women were made to do the treacherous work of collecting ''nsenene'', they were never allowed to eat them. It was believed that women who consume ''nsenene'' would bear children with deformed heads like those of a conocephaline bush cricket. Nowadays, ''nsenene'' are consumed by most women in the areas where this insect is traditionally eaten.

References

External links

*
Nsenene chronicle
{{Taxonbar, from=Q10657913 Ruspolia Insects described in 1838 Conocephalinae Orthoptera of Africa Edible insects Ugandan cuisine Kenyan cuisine Tanzanian cuisine Taxa named by Jean Guillaume Audinet-Serville