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Ethnoentomology is the study of the relationship between insects and people. The name is derived from "ethno" - study of people and "entomology" - study of insects. The focus of ethnoentomology is on how insects have been or are being used in human societies around the world. This includes insects used for food, rituals and medicine.

Insects as food

Entomophagy refers to the eating of insects. Many insects are considered a culinary delicacy in many parts of the world, but the practice is uncommon and even taboo in other societies. Insects used in food include caterpillars, silkworms, Maguey worms, Witchetty grubs & other beetle and moth larvae; crickets, grasshoppers & locusts; and arachnids, such as spiders & scorpions. They can be eaten on their own or mixed with other ingredients, such is the case with casu marzu.

Insects in medicine

Traditional and Alternative Use of Insects in Medicine

The medicinal uses of insects were often defined by the Doctrine of Signatures, which stated that an organism bearing parts that resemble human body parts, animals, or other objects, was though to have useful relevance to those parts, animals or objects. So, for example, the femurs of grasshoppers, which were said to resemble the human liver, were used to treat liver ailments by the indigenous peoples of Mexico. This doctrine is common throughout traditional and alternative medicine, but is most prominent where medical traditions are broadly accepted, as in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda, and less by community and family based medicine, as is more common in parts of Africa.

Traditional Chinese Medicine

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) includes the use of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage, exercise, and dietary therapy. It is a typical component of modern medical care throughout East Asia and in some parts of Southeast Asia (such as Thailand). Insects are very commonly incorporated as part of the herbal medicine component of TCM, and their medical properties and applications are broadly accepted and agreed upon. Some brief examples follow:

Centipede is used to treat tetanus, seizures, and convulsions. It is also said to relieve sores and carbuncles on the skin, to alleviate pain, especially that of headaches, and to be a cure for snakebite. Centipede is typically dried, ground into a paste, and applied topically to the afflicted area.

The Chinese Black Mountain Ant is supposed to act as a cure all and is widely used, especially by the elderly. It is said to prolong life, to have anti-aging properties, to replenish Qi, and to increase verility and fertility. Recent interest in the ants' medicinal qualities by British researchers has lead to investigations into the extract's ability to serve as a cancer-fighting agent. Chinese Black Mountain Ant extract is typically consumed mixed with wine or beer.

India and Ayurveda

Ayurveda, much like Traditional Chinese Medicine, is almost universally incorporated alongside Western medicine as a typical component of medical treatment in India. Although Ayurvedic medicine is often effective, it (as well as TCM) is often plagued by worryingly inconsistent dosages and frequent contamination of natural medicines with toxic heavy metals. Some brief examples to follow:

Termite is said to cure a variety of diseases, both specific and vague. Typically the mound or a portion of the mound is dug up and the termites and the architectural components of the mound are together ground into a paste which is then applied topically to the effected areas or, more rarely, mixed with water and consumed. This treatment was said to cure ulcers, rheumatic diseases, and anemia. It was also been suggested to be a general pain reliever and health improver.

The Jatropha Leaf Miner, a lepidopteran which feeds preferentially on Jatropha, is an example of a major insect agricultural pest which is also a medicinal remedy. The larvae, which are also the form of the insect with the greatest economic impact on agriculture, are harvested, boiled, and mashed into a paste which is administered topically and is said to induce lactation, reduce fever, and sooth gastrointestinal tracts.

Modern Scientific Use of Insects in Medicine

Maggot Therapy

One of the most commonly used insects in medical purposes is the blow fly larvae. The first recorded use of it was during World War II. Military surgeons noticed that wounds which were left untreated for several days and which became infested with maggots, healed better than wounds not infested with the blow fly larvae. It was later discovered that the larvae secreted a chemical called allantoin, which had a curative effect. Allantoin is now being used to treat the infectious bone disease, Osteomyelitis.

Maggot Debridement therapy is the intentional introduction of live, disinfected fly larvae into non-healing or dead skin and soft tissue wounds of a human or other animal for the purpose of selectively cleaning out only the necrotic tissue within a wound in order to promote wound healing. It is also used to prevent infection and to speed the healing process.

Apitherapy

Apitherapy is the medical use of honeybee products. One of the major peptides in bee venom, called Melittin, is used to treat inflammation in sufferers of Rheumatoid arthritis and Multiple sclerosis. Melittin blocks the expression of inflammatory genes, thus reducing swelling and pain. It is administered by direct insect sting, or intramuscular injections

Blister Beetle and Spanish Fly

Cantharidin, the blister-causing oil found in several families of beetles, was accepted by the FDA in 2004 as treatment for warts and other skin problems. It also has historical use by the Greeks and Romans and is used as an aphrodisiac in some societies. Another extract from Blister beetles has also been used to treat problems of the urogenital system.

Ants

In the Brazilian Amazon, members of the Tupí–Guaraní language family have been observed using Pachycondyla commutata ants during female rite-of-passage ceremonies, and prescribing the sting of Pseudomyrmex spp. for fevers and headaches.

See also

• Entomophobia
• Ethnobiology
• Ethnozoology
• Historical ecology
• William Balée

References

1. Ramos-Elorduy de Concini, J. and J.M. Pino Moreno. (1988). The utilization of insects in the empirical medicine of ancient Mexicans. Journal of Ethnobiology, 8(2), 195-202.
2. ^
3. ^ [http://www.dragonherbs.com/prodinfo.asp?number=007}
5. ^ Chakravorty, J., Ghosh, S., and V.B. Meyer-Rochow. (2011). Practices of entomophagy and entomotherapy by members of the Nyishi and Galo tribes, two ethnic groups of the state of Arunachal Pradesh (North-East India). Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 7(5)
6. ^ Srivastava, S.K., Babu, N., and H. Pandey. (2009). Tradtional insect bioprospecting--As human food and medicine. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge, 8(4): 485-494.
7. William Balée (2000), "Antiquity of Traditional Ethnobiological Knowledge in Amazonia: a Tupí–Guaraní Family and Time" Ethnohistory 47(2):399-422.

External links

• Notes on Bukusu ethnoentomology from western Kenya

• Ethnobiology
• Entomology
• Anthropology