Laboratory of Entomology, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, the Netherlands.
J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2012 Jan 21;8:3. doi: 10.1186/1746-4269-8-3.
Throughout history humans have manipulated their natural environment for an increased predictability and availability of plant and animal resources. Research on prehistoric diets increasingly includes small game, but edible insects receive minimal attention. Using the anthropological and archaeological literature we show and hypothesize about the existence of such environmental manipulations related to the procurement of edible insects. As examples we use eggs of aquatic Hemiptera in Mexico which are semi-cultivated by water management and by providing egg laying sites; palm weevil larvae in the Amazon Basin, tropical Africa, and New Guinea of which the collection is facilitated by manipulating host tree distribution and abundance and which are semi-cultivated by deliberately cutting palm trees at a chosen time at a chosen location; and arboreal, foliage consuming caterpillars in sub-Saharan Africa for which the collection is facilitated by manipulating host tree distribution and abundance, shifting cultivation, fire regimes, host tree preservation, and manually introducing caterpillars to a designated area. These manipulations improve insect exploitation by increasing their predictability and availability, and most likely have an ancient origin.
纵观历史，人类为了提高植物和动物资源的可预测性和可用性，不断对自然环境进行干预。对史前饮食的研究越来越多地包括小型猎物，但对可食用昆虫的关注却很少。我们利用人类学和考古学文献，展示并假设了与获取可食用昆虫有关的这种环境干预的存在。我们以墨西哥的水生半翅目昆虫的卵、亚马逊盆地、热带非洲和新几内亚的棕榈象鼻虫幼虫以及撒哈拉以南非洲的树栖、食叶毛虫为例，这些昆虫的收集得益于对宿主树分布和丰度的操纵，以及在选定的时间和地点故意砍伐棕榈树的半栽培方式；树栖、食叶毛虫的收集得益于对宿主树分布和丰度、轮作、火的作用、宿主树的保护以及将毛虫手动引入指定区域的操纵。这些干预措施通过提高昆虫的可预测性和可用性来改善对昆虫的利用，并且很可能具有古老的起源。
