Anthropo-entomophagy and ethno-entomology among the ethnic Mao-Naga and Poumai-Naga tribes of Manipur, Northeast India

Abstract

Entomophagy, the practice of eating insects, has a great deal of importance and history with many countries of the world however, its consumption species of insects and their value differ from community to community. Here, we aimed to study the ethnic traditional practices of entomophagy and its uses in traditional ethno-entomology practiced by the Mao-Naga tribe and the Poumai-Naga tribe from Senapati district of Manipur, Northeast India. We conducted individual semi-structured questionnaire surveys from different villages of both the tribes with ages varying from 22 to 70 years. The respondents comprise village elders, house makers and the youth. The study shows a total of 53 and 51 species of insects being consumed by the Mao-Naga and Poumai-Naga tribes respectively consisting of 9 orders and 18 families. The order Hymenoptera has the maximum number having 20 edible insect species from both the tribes. The order Diptera, Isoptera and Mantodea has the least edible insect of 1 species each from both the tribes. Besides entomophagy, some insect’s species were believed to have ethno-entomological uses.