Key Laboratory of Ecology of Rare and Endangered Species and Environmental Protection (Guangxi Normal University), Ministry of Education, 1 Yanzhong Road, Guilin, 541006, China.
Guangxi Key Laboratory of Rare and Endangered Animal Ecology, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, 541006, China.
J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2024 Jun 11;20(1):61. doi: 10.1186/s13002-024-00700-0.
Although China has a long history of using insects as food and medicine and has developed numerous associated knowledge and practices, especially in its rural and mountainous areas, systematic surveys concerning this subject are limited. In-depth ethnobiological research is needed to compile a comprehensive database of edible and medicinal insects and record the associated knowledge of these food and medicinal resources.
Data on edible and medicinal insects and associated knowledge about them were collected by interviewing 216 local villagers in a mountainous territory in southeast Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.
Local villagers used at least 16 edible and 9 medicinal insects, of which 4 wasp species were used in both entomophagy and medicinal practices. Parapolybia varia, Polistes olivaceus, and Anomala chamaeleon were newly recorded edible insects in China. The wasps, Euconocephalus sp., Gryllotalpa orientalis, and Cyrtotrachelus longimanus, were preferred and culturally important edible insects. Populations of Euconocephalus sp. and G. orientalis were reported to have substantially decreased in recent years. Wasps and a bamboo bee were used to treat rheumatism, while cockroaches and antlions were used to treat common cold symptoms in infants. Insect-related knowledge was positively correlated with the interviewees' age.
Villagers have accumulated considerable local and traditional knowledge of entomophagy and entomo-therapeutic practices. However, this knowledge is in danger of being lost, which highlights the urgent need to document this information. Edible insects enrich local diets, and a more sustainable supply (such as through insect farming) could maintain local entomophagy practices. Medicinal insects are a part of local folk medicine, and pharmacological and chemical techniques could be applied to identify various biologically active substances in these insects.
尽管中国有着悠久的食用昆虫和药用昆虫的历史，并且在农村和山区发展了大量相关知识和实践，但针对这一主题的系统调查却十分有限。需要进行深入的民族生物学研究，以编纂一个全面的食用昆虫和药用昆虫数据库，并记录这些食物和药用资源的相关知识。
通过访谈中国广西壮族自治区东南部山区的 216 位当地村民，收集了有关食用昆虫和相关知识的数据。
当地村民食用了至少 16 种食用昆虫和 9 种药用昆虫，其中 4 种蜂类在食用和药用方面均有应用。中国新记录了 4 种可食用昆虫，即异色多刺蚁、橄榄绿马蜂和中华宽胸步甲。胡蜂、东方蝼蛄和宽胸长足虻是受欢迎且具有文化重要性的食用昆虫。近年来，胡蜂和东方蝼蛄的种群数量据称已大幅减少。蜂类和竹蜂被用于治疗风湿病，而蟑螂和草蛉则被用于治疗婴儿的感冒症状。与昆虫相关的知识与受访者的年龄呈正相关。
村民积累了相当多的有关食用昆虫和昆虫治疗实践的地方和传统知识。然而，这些知识正面临失传的危险，这凸显了记录这些信息的紧迫性。食用昆虫丰富了当地的饮食，更可持续的供应（例如通过昆虫养殖）可以维持当地的食用昆虫实践。药用昆虫是当地民间医学的一部分，药理学和化学技术可以应用于鉴定这些昆虫中的各种生物活性物质。
