SOUTH
AMERICA: COLOMBIA
Taxonomic Inventory
Taxa and life stages consumed
Beetles/beetle
grubs
Bruchidae (seed
beetles)
Caryobruchus sp. (scheelaea
Bridwell?), larva
Buprestidae
(metallic woodborers)
Euchroma
gigantea Linnaeus, larva,
adult
Cerambycidae
(long-horned beetles)
Acrocinus
longimanus (Linn.), larva
Curculionidae
(weevils, snout beetles)
Anthonomus spp., adults
Rhynchophorus (=
Calandra) palmarum Linn., larva
Passalidae (bess
beetles)
Passalid sp.,
larva, adult
Scarabaeidae
(scarab beetles)
Ancognatha sp., larva
Megaceras crassum (author?), adult
Podischnus agenor Olivier, larva,
adult
Stratiomyidae
(soldier flies)
Chrysochlorina spp., larvae
Apidae (honeybees,
bumblebees)
Trigona clavipes (author?), larva
Trigona
trinidadensis (author?), larva
Formicidae (ants)
Atta cephalotes, Linn., winged female, soldier
Atta laevigata (Smith), winged
female, soldier
Atta sexdens Linn., winged
female, soldier
Vespidae (wasps,
hornets)
Apoica thoracica du Buysson, pupa
Mischocyttarus spp., larvae
Polistes canadensis
erythrocephalus Latreille,
larva
Polistes
pacificus Fabr. ( =
pacificus modestus Smith), larva
Polistes ssp. (author?),
larva
Polistes
versicolor (Olivier) ssp., larva
Polybia ignobilis (Haliday), larva
Polybia rejecta (Fabr.), pupa
Agelaia ( =
Stelopolybia) angulata (Fabr.), pupa
Termitidae
(termites)
Macrotermes sp., soldier
Syntermes
parallelus (author?), soldier, winged female
Syntermes snyderi (author?),
soldier, winged female
Hesperiidae
(skippers)
Hesperid sp., larva
Lacosomidae
(sack-bearers)
Lacosomid sp.,
larva
Noctuidae
(noctuids)
Mocis repanda Fabricius, larva
Spodoptera
frugiperda J.E. Smith, larva
Notodontidae
(prominants)
Notodontid sp.,
larva
Saturniidae (giant
silkworm moths)
Saturniid sp.,
larva
Corydalidae
(dobsonflies, fishflies)
Corydalus spp., larvae
Acrididae
(short-horned grasshoppers)
Aidemona azteca Saussure, nymph,
adult
Orphulella spp., nymphs,
adults
Osmilia flavolineata DeGeer, nymph,
adult
Osmilia spp., nymphs,
adults
Schistocerca spp., nymphs,
adults
Romaleidae (lubber
grasshoppers)
Tropidacris c.
cristata (Linn.) (= latreillei (Perty)), nymph, adult
Tettigoniidae
(long-horned grasshoppers)
Conocephalus angustifrons Redt, nymph, adult
Hydropsychidae
(net-spinning caddiceflies)
Leptonema spp., larvae
The study by Ruddle
(1973) on food insect use by the Yukpa, a Carib tribe along the
Colombia-Venezuela border, is one of the best in depicting the role of insects
as food in a pre-industrial culture.
The Yukpa are principally "shifting cultivators who operate a
variety of partial systems of land use, complemented mainly by hunting, fishing, and gathering
activities." He found that insects
from seven orders and 22 genera are used, and they are used as a complementary
food source throughout the year.
Certain insect foods are preferred to fresh meat. According to Ruddle, several of the food
insects are crop pests, so additional benefits are achieved through reduced
crop losses without the cost and hazards of insecticides. The insect orders drawn upon most heavily by
the Yukpa are the Coleoptera, Hymenoptera and Orthoptera. Their use, as described by Ruddle, is
summarized under the appropriate orders and families.
According to Ruddle,
factors that tend to either increase or decrease food insect utilization by the
Yukpa include: a) Increasing acceptance of "wátia"
ways, which for example has caused reduced consumption of Yupúna from the maize
fields; b) Reduced availability of game
as a result of forest destruction.
Ruddle states, "Thus, instead of disappearing as an archaic trait
under the impact of acculturation, insect harvesting as a complementary food
source may have been reinforced by the increased scarcity of larger
game." c) A great aversion to consuming the recently
introduced domestic animals, most of which the Yukpa regard as pets. While acculturation tends to decrease insect
use, the latter two factors tend to increase it. From his excellent study, Ruddle concluded: "Most studies have regarded
insect-eating as an archaic trait which is gradually disappearing owing to the
steady encroachment of more modern subsistence systems. Among the Yukpa-Yuko Indians of Venezuela
and Colombia, however, insect foods have retained their importance in the less
acculturated communities."
Beckerman (1977)
noted the nutritional importance of the palm weevil, Rhynchophorus palmarum,
in his study of the use of palms by the Barí Indians, "a small tribe of
slash-and-burn cultivators who inhabit the tropical rain forests of the
southwestern-most lobe of the Maracaibo basin," a region bisected by the
border between Colombia and Venezuela and sometimes called Motilonia. Sweet manioc is cultivated as the major
crop, with bananas and several minor crops contributing to the food
supply. Cotton is also cultivated. Their food crops and fish, and to a lesser
extent, game, yield a diet adequate in protein during most of the year. The Barí also make extensive use of the wild
vegetable products of the forest, among which, according to Beckerman,
"heart of palm," palm fruits, and palm grubs are important in
supplying protein. He states (p. 152): "It is a common practice to cut down Jessenia
trees and leave the logs lying in the forest.
In two or three months the whole trunk is infested with the edible
larvae of the palm weevil, Rhynchophorus palmarum, which usually attacks
only the crown of the tree . . . . Several hundred grams of larvae can be
extracted from a single trunk, which is split open with an ax . . . . Only Jessenia
is used as a 'grub farm' in this way by the Barí, despite the fact that R.
palmarum will infest at least the crown of a great many other kinds of
palms."
Beckerman concluded
(p. 153) that:
In sum, as well as furnishing the Barí with
indispensable raw materials like bow wood and matting material, the palms of
Motilonia also furnish a protein resource which 'buffers' any vagaries in the
supply of meat. While the total amount
of palm fruit and grubs eaten is far less than the amount of, say, fish
consumed, the availability of the palm protein at times when alternatives are
in short supply probably means that the Barí are able to support a larger
population year-round than would be the case if they had to rely exclusively on
the somewhat seasonal fish catch and the unreliable hunt.
Hugh-Jones (1979: 30)
reports that for the Barasana, a small Tukanoan sub-group living in the Vaupés
River region of Colombia, "A considerable portion of the diet comes from
insects and much time is devoted to obtaining these and other gathered
foods." While most Barasana food
is smoked and/or boiled, insects and small fish are roasted. Among the insects used are caterpillars and
pupae, sauba (Atta spp.) ants, termites, and beetle larvae (p. 34).
Hugh-Jones mentions the use of sauba ants and meka (large ground-living
termites) in rites and ceremonies of the Barasana (pp. 60, 67, 83-85, 88, 90),
and similarly, wasp "eggs" (p. 67).
The Barasana terms for insect grubs are wadoa and hiköroa.
Dufour (1987)
reported more than 20 species of insects used as food by Tatuyo-speaking
Tukanoan Indians in the Vaupés region of southeastern Colombia. The studies were conducted primarily at the
village of Yapú. Seasonal differences
in rainfall are not well-marked, but the principal rainy season begins in March
with maximum rain in July and a second shorter rainy period from September
through October. A long slightly drier
period extends from November through February with a short one in August. The Tatuyo at Yapú are slash and burn
horticulturists, with cassava the principal crop and dietary staple. It is supplemented with a variety of other
vegetable foods and with fish, game, and invertebrates. Dufour found that the most important insects
in the diet were those which formed large, highly predictable aggregations in
nature, and their inclusion in the diet was frequent and inversely related to
the consumption of fish and game.
Proximate analyses of
several of the insects studied by Dufour are compared to those of fish and
tapir (Colombia Table 1; from Dufour's Table 2, p. 390). Energy values for the insects, ranging from
425 to 661 kcal/100g, are all higher than that for the smoke-dried fish (312
kcal/100 g), as is the crude protein content in three of the five insects
analyzed. It should be noted in this
connection, however, that the smoke-dried, ground fish includes bone and scale
material and the protein value is less than that of fileted fish.
Data by Dufour, based
on food-intake records for November-January and May-June revealed that,
although fish was by far the most frequently consumed animal food, insects were
second. Fish appeared in 88% of the
diet records of males and 78% of those of females, while insects appeared in
26% of the diet records of males and 32% of those of females. Insects were the only source of animal food
in women's diets on five of the 40 days (12%) for which records were kept. Game appeared in 24% of the diet records of
men and only 21% of the records for women.
Fish also contributed most of the animal protein in the diet (Colombia
Table 2; from Dufour's Table 4, p. 391), but insects contributed 12% of the
animal protein in men's diets and 26% in women's diets during the May-June
period. Insects also contributed
significant amounts of fat to the diet, 18% and 20%, respectively, for men and
women in May-June, and 23% and 7%, respectively, in November-January.
Regarding which
insects were collected by which family members, Dufour states (p. 388): "Adult men collected insect species
which required felling trees (wasp brood), and splitting open felled logs (Rhynchophorus
larvae). Men, women, and older children
collected Lepidoptera and Coleoptera larvae (other than Rhynchophorus),
and the alates of Atta and Syntermes. Women were responsible for collecting all of the ant and termite
soldiers. Because this kind of
collecting occurred throughout the year and was relatively time consuming, women
probably devoted more time to insect collection than did men or children."
Dufour presents
tabular data on seasonal availability of the edible species studied (her Table
1), their weight, and "acquisition rate" in grams/hour (maximum per
person per attempt). All of the
Coleoptera were non-seasonal in availability.
Seasonal availability of Atta ants was non-seasonal for soldiers,
early to mid rainy season for alates.
Wasp brood (family Vespidae) was non-seasonal. Seasonal availability of termite soldiers and alates was the same
as that for Atta ants. Among the
Lepidoptera, the hesperiid larva is non-seasonal, the lacosomid larva is
available for 1-2 weeks during the long rainy season, the noctuid larva (batia)
for 1-2 weeks during the short dry season to the beginning of the short rainy
season, and the notodontid larva for 1-2 weeks at the beginning of the short
rainy season. The live weight of batia
is given as 4.0g, and the quantities of this species collected in August and
September were impressive.
Dufour states (p. 392)
that:
Informants could name more edible
insect species than were actually observed and collected during the field
study. They can, for example, readily
name at least 8 varieties of edible wasps, and more than 10 varieties of edible
ants [compared to 3 species of each observed by Dufour]. There are several factors that may account
for the discrepancy in number between the observed and enumerated
varieties. First, the data on insect
collection derived from harvest records included only the material brought back
to the village and therefore underrecorded the use of insects which were
typically consumed as they were collected.
This was usually the case with the larvae of woodboring beetles. Furthermore, it is assumed that some of the
insect material actually brought back to the village went unnoticed because it
came in small packages at odd times of the day, or was effectively hidden. The latter sometimes occurred with prized
foods, especially small quantities of Rhynchophorus larvae. The diet records provided a very accurate account
of insect use, but for only a limited number of days.
Second, the period of observation
may have been inadequate to record all varieties of insects that are harvested
opportunistically, such as wasps, or only collected under certain social
circumstances. An example of the latter
was the unidentified lemon-flavored ant that was collected for use as a
condiment when salt was tabooed. Third,
not all varieties recognized as edible were found within the usual resource
area exploited for insect fauna. Foraging
for insects was usually restricted to an area within about 15 minutes' walk
from the village, and in and around gardens.
This was a smaller area than that exploited for fish and game resources,
but essentially the same area in which most of the wild vegetable foods were
collected. The only exceptions were the
Noctuid caterpillars which were collected within the traditional territory of a
neighboring village and in cooperation with that group, and the Rhynchophorus
larvae 'cached' near hunting/fishing camps.
Dufour notes that: "The dietary records [in May-June
and November-January] did not adequately sample seasonal differences in insect
consumption, and it is likely that insects were also important in the diet when
caterpillars were available in August and September. Over the entire year insects probably contributed 5% to 7% of all
the animal protein consumed."
Dufour suggests that, while the quality of insect protein may not be as
high as that of vertebrate protein, "its amino acid composition is
complementary to that in the dietary staple, cassava, which is limited in
lysine and threonine."
Dufour continues (p.
394):
In general, insects were most often
collected and consumed when other animal foods were available in very limited
quantities, or not at all. This role of
insects in damping fluctuations in the intake of animal foods reflected both
seasonal variations in the availability of animal resources, and the day-to-day
variability that occurred in individual households throughout the year. The high level of insect consumption
recorded in May-June coincided with a seasonal peak in the abundance of alate
ants and a relative low point in fish and game availability. On the other hand, the low levels of insect
consumption recorded for November-January coincided with a period of average to
exceptionally high fishing productivity.
The actual availability of fish and game in individual households,
however, was not completely dictated by seasonal factors. It depended to a large extent on the time
and effort put into resource acquisition by males. Thus, even in January when fishing was the most productive, the
diet records indicate that some households were consuming ants and termites
collected by women.
Continuing, Dufour
states (p. 394):
Although insects were most often
consumed on days when fish and game were in short supply, some forms, such as Rhynchophorus
larvae and alate ants, were valued as delicacies in their own right and eaten
both as snacks and with meals. Less
valued insects, such as ant and termite soldiers, were most often eaten with
meals at which no other animal foods were available or permitted [not permitted
because of food restrictions that are part of the Tatuyo medical system]. In some cases the quantity of insects eaten
at meals was very small, not more than 10 to 15 termite soldiers' heads, or a
tablespoon of dry ground ants. In these
quantities the insect material functioned as a condiment. It added diversity to the meal, and thereby
increased the total food energy consumed.
Wild nuts and seeds were often used in a similar way. This condiment function of insects is not
trivial because dietary protein is only effectively used as protein when energy
intake is adequate.
Dufour briefly
discusses edible insects in relation to the food restrictions that are part of
Tatuyo (and other Tukanoan) medicine and ritual. All animal and vegetable foods are ranked in categories, and fish
and game, which are the highest ranked foods, are the first to be removed
during illness, certain personal crises or rituals. In general, insects rank lower than fish or game, and ant and
termite soldiers, being among the lowest ranked foods, were sometimes the only
animal foods permitted in the diet.
Dufour mentions that adult males during male adolescent initiation rites
were limited to diets of water, cassava starch, and termite soldiers for as
long as two weeks. The same diet was
adhered to by menstruating females for a day or two at a time.
According to Dufour,
the inclusion of insects in indigenous diets should not be considered a mere
curiosity. The conclusion to be drawn
from the study is probably most concisely summarized in the following statement
(p. 384): "The research presented
here indicates that insect fauna is frequently consumed and clearly an
important food resource for Tukanoans.
I thus suggest that a consideration of the role of insect fauna in the
diet needs to be included in any evaluation of the adequacy of protein
resources in Amazonia."
Coleoptera
Bruchidae (seed beetles)
Caryobruchus sp. (scheelaea Bridwell?), larva
Ruddle (1973)
reported that the succulent, greasy larvae of Caryobruchus (scheelaea?)
are particularly relished by the Yukpa and are the most frequently consumed of
the coleopterans. They are known as
"etéme" and are either skewered or wrapped in leaves and gently
roasted, or, less commonly, consumed raw.
The larvae develop only in the nuts of the kurukmatoro (Scheelea
sp.) palm which grows in the hot lowlands.
The larvae become large enough to eat in October and November, about two
months after the nuts have fallen to the ground and begun to rot. The Yukpa who live at the higher elevations
make special trips to the lowlands to collect them.
Buprestidae (metallic woodborers)
Euchroma gigantea Linn., larva, adult
Dufour (1987)
reported E. gigantea among the foods of the Tukanoans. The Tukanoan name for it is boopica. This, plus other coleopterans used were all
woodboring; the larvae were preferred although adults were occasionally eaten
as well. The dry weight of the adult
beetle was found to be 3.0g.
Cerambycidae (long-horned beetles)
Acrocinus longimanus (Linn.), larva
Larvae are eaten by
the Tukanoans (Dufour 1987).
They are called pikoroa.
Curculionidae (weevils, snout beetles)
Anthonomus spp., adults
Rhynchophorus (= Calandra) palmarum Linn., larva
According to Ruddle
(1973), adults of Anthonomus spp. are serious pests of both
growing and stored maize. The weevils,
known as poatask, are consumed by the Yukpa during a six-weeks period
prior to the maize harvest and are collected only from the growing plants,
usually about one handful at a time.
They are wrapped in leaves and gently roasted. As noted by Ruddle, weevils of this genus are ubiquitous
throughout Latin America.
Reichel-Dolmatoff (1945: 28;
vide Ruddle 1973) reported that the Iroka subgroup of Yukpa ate "palm
worms" which he identified as Calandra palmarum, this being
apparently the first report of palm weevil consumption in Colombia.
Dufour (1987)
reports that palm grubs, Rhynchophorus spp., known as waraa, were
the most important coleopterans collected:
"The Tatuyo felled palms to harvest the fruits, and often returned
at a later date to harvest the larvae which subsequently developed in the pith. Palms were also cut specifically with the
expectation that they would be invaded by weevils and the larvae ready to
harvest in two or three months. Thus,
the larvae were both a by-product of the harvesting of palm fruits and
'cultivated.' In the latter sense they
were frequently used as a food cache by men on hunting and fishing trips away
from the village." The live weight
of Rhynchophorus grubs from the same log ranged from 3-16 g and the
acquisition rate was 2,000 g/hr.
Although Rhynchophorus was collected from a variety of palms, Mauritia
flexuosa and Jessenia sp. appeared to be the most important.
The semi-cultivation
of Rhynchophorus grubs by the Barí Indians was described by Beckerman
(1977) (see Introduction). See
also Santelos (1959, food of the Irapa) and Wilbert (1960, food of the Pariri)
under References Cited.
Passalidae (bess beetles)
Dufour (1987)reported
that a passalid of unidentified genus, known as yayaru, is eaten by the
Tukanoans. Both larvae and adults are
eaten.
Scarabaeidae (scarab beetles)
Ancognatha sp., larva
Megaceras crassum (author?), adult
Podischnus agenor Olivier, larva, adult
Ruddle (1973)
reported that the large Podischnus agenor, or rhinoceros beetle, is
particularly relished by the Yukpa because it "contains a lot of
meat." The adults (female termed poxta,
the male poxta-uwatpu) are active at night and appear in large numbers
during the early months of the rainy season.
It is sought by the women and children in their maize fields and sugar
cane plots and to a lesser extent in clumps of wild cane. The larvae are searched for earlier in the
year and are found in soils rich in organic matter and dead roots, such as
those of newly cleared fields. Usually,
only the abdomens of the adults are eaten.
They are skewered on a stick and toasted lightly. Ruddle states that some, mainly the
children, prefer to eat the beetles raw.
Dufour (1987)
reported adults of Megaceras crassum among Tukanoan foods. The dry weight of the beetle is 2.2g.
Patricia Conway of
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who has spent a considerable amount of time in Cauca
State in southwestern Colombia, reported (pers. comm. 1987) that the only
insect known to her to be consumed in that area is a large, white woodboring
larva, identified by Professor Rodrigo Torres, a Colombian entomologist, as Ancognatha
sp. (Dynastinae). It is fried and
considered tasty. According to Torres,
it is grown in great quantities on a farm near Bogota.
Miscellaneous Coleoptera
See Hugh-Jones (1979)
in the Introduction, Goldman (1963, as food in the Uaupes-Coqueta region) and
Wilbert (1960, food of the Pariri) under References Cited.
Diptera
Stratiomyidae (soldier flies)
Chrysochlorina spp., larvae
Chrysochlorina, or soldier fly,
larvae are collected by the Yukpa from pools that seasonally become cut-off
from streams (Ruddle 1973).
Usually, only 10-15 larvae are eaten at any one time. They are wrapped in a large leaf and gently
roasted.
Hymenoptera
A wide assortment of
bees, ants and wasps are consumed in Colombia.
Apidae (honey bees, bumblebees)
Trigona clavipes (author?), larva
Trigona trinidadensis (author?), larva
The Yukpa are avid
honey hunters (Ruddle 1973). Two
species of stingless bees, subfamily Meliponinae, Trigona clavipes and T.
trinidadensis, are important as sources of both honey and bee larvae or
"brood," the importance of the former being such that the Yukpa name
for it is wáno, the term also used to describe all types of honey. The Yukpa term for T. trinidadensis
is wikisa. The component parts
of the nests are also used for various purposes.
See also Wilbert
(1960, food of the Pariri) under References Cited.
Formicidae (ants)
Atta cephalotes Linn., winged female, soldier
Atta laevigata, Smith, winged female, soldier
Atta sexdens Linn., winged female, soldier
According to Cowan (1865:
160):
Herrera says, the natives of New Granada (an early name
for Colombia) made their main food of Ants, which they kept and reared in their
yards. Sloane confirms this, and says they are publicly sold in the markets.
Abbeville de Noromba tells us these great Ants are fricasseed. Schombergk, in
his journey to the sources of the Essequibo, one evening saw all the boys of a
village out shouting and chasing with sticks and palm leaves a large species of
winged Ant, which they collected in great numbers in their calabashes for food.
When roasted or boiled, he says, the natives considered these insects a great
delicacy.
The ants most commonly
eaten by the Yukpa are the leafcutter ants, Atta spp., known as kiavu,
which are abundant and sometimes very destructive to crops and individual trees
(Ruddle 1973). They are
collected in May at the beginning of the rainy season. The method is interesting. On a suitably rainy morning, before dawn, a
moat is dug around the entrance to the underground nest. The nest entrance is then enlarged enough
that the rain pours in, soon starting to flood the nest. As the ants pour out, they are trapped by
the waterfilled moat. The large, gravid
female ants are selected, usually enough to fill several small baskets. Individual handfuls of ants are wrapped in
leaves and roasted; only the abdomens are eaten.
Leafcutter ants (genus
Atta) were collected in quantity by the Tukanoans (Dufour 1987). Soldiers were collected by inserting a
probe, such as a palm leaf rib stripped of leaves, into a nest entrance and
removing the soldiers clinging to it.
Alate females, highly prized as a delicacy, were collected as they
swarmed from the nest by the thousands on their mating flights. The mating flights occur in the early part
of the principal rainy season, with, sometimes, an additional flight at the
beginning of the second, shorter rainy season.
The day of the flight can be very accurately predicted from the weather
pattern and type of activity at the nest.
Dufour states: "The female
alates of A. cephalotes Latr. were particularly easy to collect since
they left the nest just before dawn and could be attracted to a burning flare
and caught neatly in a basket. Those of
the other species of Atta had colonizing flights during the day, and
were collected by handpicking them as they emerged from holes spread over the
nest surface." The live weight of A.
sexdens alates was 0.6g.; the acquisition rate for this species and A.
laevigata was only 200 g/hr compared to 3200 for A. cephalotes Dufour (pp. 395-396) estimates the biomass
of queens in a colony at about 3,000 g (fresh weight), of which about half may
be collected.
Tukanoan names for the
three Atta species are: A.
cephalotes soldier, mekaiyaa, alate female, mekaiyaa liara; A.
laevigata soldier, ruhaa, alate female, ruhaa liara; and A.
sexdens soldier, biapuna,
alate female, biapuna liara (Dufour 1987).
Earlier reports on Atta
ant consumption include Bodenheimer (1951: 307), who, without
citing a source, reported that the mestizos roast sauba ants in
great quantities and that they are a "national dish" all over the
Andean region. Several individuals have
mentioned to the author (pers. comm. 1987, 1988) that toasted Atta ant
abdomens are sold like popcorn in the movie theaters of Bogota.
Contesti (1993)
calls the leafcutters (hormigas culonas or big-bottomed ants) a national
delicacy that is equivalent -- in its high price and gastronomic value -- with
Russian caviar or French truffles; the toasted ants constitute the highest
attainment of Colombian cookery. By
collecting and selling the ants, a campesino can earn during the three-month
season, from March to May, the equivalent of a year of day wages. A pound of ants sells for about $20, the
equivalent of six days of work at the minimum wage. The author notes that their sale is especially redeeming because
the ants grow in zones of erosion, with little agricultural employment. Some
are exported to Japan. Historically,
the author reports that the conquering Spaniards, after their initial
repulsion, soon came to appreciate the ants and tried to monopolize their
cultivation. This provoked such grave
conflicts with the Indians that the Spaniards finally desisted.
See also Hugh-Jones
(1979) in the Introduction, and Goldman (1963, as food in the Uaupes-Coqueta
region), Santelos (1959, food of the Irapa) and Wilbert (1960, food of the
Pariri) under Referencse Cited.
Vespidae (wasps, hornets)
Apoica thoracica du Buysson, pupa
Mischocyttarus spp., larvae
Polistes canadensis erythrocephalus
Latreille, larva
Polistes pacificus Fabr. (= pacificus modestus Smith), larva
Polistes ssp., larva
Polistes versicolor (Olivier) ssp, larva
Polybia ignobilis (Haliday), larva
Polybia rejecta (Fabr.), pupa
Agelaia (= Stelopolybia) angulata (Fabr.), pupa
Ruddle (1973)
reports that the larvae of specific social wasps are eaten by the Yukpa and are
more or less available at all seasons.
In addition, the nests of Polybia ignobilis (Yukpa term: piowara) contain an appreciable amount of
honey during the latter part of the rainy season. The wasp combs are tossed into a fire and the larvae are killed
and lightly toasted within a few seconds.
In common with other insect foods of the Yukpa, the cooked larvae are
usually eaten directly, but if a large number have been obtained they may be
stored for a few days. Ruddle states
that consumption of certain wasp larvae is specifically forbidden, those of the
mason or potter wasps (subfamily Eumeninae) because they are thought to cause
blindness if eaten. Others such as
solitary wasps, a spider wasp (Pompilidae), and a digger wasp (Sphecidae) are
not specifically forbidden, but are not utilized.
Other edible wasp
larvae reported by Ruddle include: Mischocyttarus
spp. (Yukpa term: wanacana), Polistes
canadensis erythrocephalus (mtst koruca), P. pacificus modestus
(nonawu), and P. versicolor ssp. (mtst).
Pupae of three species
of wasps were observed by Dufour to be eaten by the Tukanoans, Apoica
thoracica, known as utia, Polybia rejecta, also known as utia,
and Stelopolybia angulata, known as totu utia.
See also Hugh-Jones
(1979) in the Introduction, and Santelos (1959, food of the Irapa) and Wilbert
(1960, food of the Pariri) under References Cited.
Isoptera
Termitidae (termites)
Macrotermes sp., soldier
Syntermes parallelus (author?), soldier, winged female
Syntermes snyderi (author?), soldier, winged female
Dufour (1987)
states that leaf-cutters of the genus Syntermes are the most important
termites in the Tukanoan diet. Soldier Syntermes
are collected in the same manner as soldier ants. Alate females were collected by using leaf traps to channel them
into a restricted number of exit holes.
They are used as fish bait as well as for food. The species consumed were Syntermes
parallelus (Tukanoan term for soldier: bupena), S. snyderi (soldier:
meka bupuara), and Macrotermes sp. (only soldiers eaten).
See also Hugh-Jones
(1979) above in Introduction.
Lepidoptera
Dufour (1987)
states that two species of colonial caterpillars were collected in particularly large quantities by
Tukanoans. " The first, hutia,
was a lightly haired, smallish caterpillar that nested in secondary growth and
was as important for fishing bait as for food.
The second species, batiya, was a larger, brightly colored
caterpillar that nested in a common primary forest tree, Erisma yapura,
and was collected as it descended from the canopy to pupate on the forest
floor." Both species, for unknown
reasons, were patchy in their distribution.
Of two other species using cultivated plants as hosts, one was found on
cassava leaves, the other on the cultivated tree, Inga sp. Several other kinds of caterpillars
purportedly used were not observed by Dufour.
Hesperiidae (skippers)
Larvae, called kiinamono,
of unknown genus are consumed by Tukanoans (Dufour 1987).
Lacosomidae (sack-bearers)
A larva, genus
unknown, is consumed by Tukanoans (Dufour 1987).
Noctuidae (noctuids)
Mocis repanda, Fabr., larva
Spodoptera frugiperda J.E. Smith, larva
Larvae of the above
two species are consumed by the Yukpa (Ruddle 1973). Both are termed yupúna. The maize crop is a good source of yupúna
which are collected, wrapped in leaves, and roasted. According to Ruddle, consumption of yupúna is now much
reduced because of increasing acceptance of "wátia" ways (Yukpa term
for people who are ethnically not Amerindian).
The maize fields are still examined for pest infestation, but the larvae
are frequently discarded rather than being utilized as food.
As
noted above, batiya, a larva of unknown genus is consumed in quantity by
Tukanoans (Dufour 1987).
Notodontidae (prominants)
A larva of unknown
genus, called menehaia, is consumed by Tukanoans (Dufour 1987).
Saturniidae (giant silkworm moths)
A larva of unknown
genus, called hutia, is consumed by Tukanoans (see above) (Dufour
1987).
Neuroptera
Corydalidae (dobsonflies, fishflies)
Corydalus spp., larvae
The aquatic larvae of
dobsonflies, Corydalus spp. (known as stpaykt), are widely
available in the stony shallows of streams and rivers and are frequently eaten
by the Yukpa, after being lightly roasted (Ruddle 1973). Although abundant, only 10-20 larvae are
collected at any one time. The adult
insects fly in the early evening and are large, some attaining a wing span of 15
cm (6 inches). Before roasting the
adult insect, the head, wings, and legs are removed. The Yukpa are quite discriminating in their food insect choices,
however, and the adults are infrequently used as food even though they are very
weak fliers and are easily caught.
Orthoptera
Acrididae (short-horned grasshoppers)
Aidemona azteca Saussure,
nymph, adult
Orphulella spp., nymphs, adults
Osmilia flavolineata DeGeer, nymph, adult
Osmilia spp., nymphs, adults
Schistocerca spp., nymphs, adults
Ruddle (1973)
reported that nymphs and adults of the above species are used as food by the
Yukpa: the first three listed are known
as ptsatpt, Osmilia spp. and Schistocerca spp. are known
as kosopina. The women and
children scour the fields, particularly during the wet season, catching
grasshoppers in their cupped hands.
According to Ruddle, in addition to providing a good source of food,
"this activity has the added advantage of preventing the accumulation of a
highly destructive grasshopper population among the crops." Occasionally, especially in January and
February, a large group will organize a fire-drive to collect
grasshoppers. The dry grass is set
afire and "the fleeing insects are driven toward the waiting women and
children who beat them down with large fans (pthpa) and store them in
baskets." For eating, they are
wrapped in leaves and roasted, or they may be skewered and lightly
toasted. They are ordinarily used as a
side dish.
Romaleidae (lubber grasshoppers)
Tropidacris c. cristata (Linn.) (= latreillei (Perty)), nymph, adult
According to Ruddle,
"the plump, juicy sakaramo" (Tropidacris latreilli), is
particularly relished.
Tettigoniidae (long-horned grasshoppers)
Conocephalus angustifrons Redt, nymph, adult
Nymphs and adults,
called ptstna, are eaten by the Yukpa (Ruddle 1973).
Trichoptera
Hydropsychidae (net-spinning caddiceflies)
Leptonema spp., larvae
Small larvae of Leptonema
are common in the rivers where the current is strongest. They are collected in small quantities of
50-60, wrapped in leaves and gently roasted.
The Yukpa term is misípsi (Ruddle 1973).
References Cited (An * denotes reference not seen)
Beckerman, S. 1977. The use of palms by the Barí Indians of the
Maracaibo Basin. Principes
21(4): 143-154. (See under Introduction)
Bodenheimer, F.S. 1951. Insects as Human Food. The Hague:
W. Junk, 352 pp. (Formicidae)
Contesti, Susana. 1993. Eating ants. Cambio, March 8, 1993, p. 24. (Formicidae)
Cowan, F. 1865. Curious Facts in the History of Insects; Including
Spiders and Scorpions. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 396 pp. (Formicidae)
Dufour, D.L. 1987. Insects as food: A case study from the northwest Amazon. Am. Anthropologist 89(2): 383-397. (Introduction and under most orders and
families)
Goldman, I. 1963 [1948]. Tribes of the Uaupes-Caqueta region. In:
Handbook of South American Indians, J.H. Steward (ed), Vol. 3, pp.
763-798. New York: Cooper Square Publ., Inc.
Regarding the
Tucanoan, Arawakan, and Cariban tribes in the southern Colombia-northwestern
Brazil region, Goldman states that farming dependance is mainly on roots of
manioc and fish are the main source of protein. He says, however (p. 770):
"Fullest use of wild foods is made by all tribes in the area. Women gather various kinds of edible ants,
grubs, berries and roots. Wild food
gathering is not a regular activity; it is undertaken sporadically, either to
make up deficiencies in the fish and game diet, or for variety. The known ripening of fruits and berries is
almost invariably an occasion for a gathering expedition."
Hugh-Jones, S. 1979. The Palm and the Pleiades. Initiation and Cosmology in Northwest
Amazonia. London: Cambridge Univ. Press. (Introduction)
Reichel-Dolmatoff, G. 1945. Los Indios Motilones: Etnología y lingüística. Rev. Inst. Etnológíco Nac. 2(1):
55-115.* (Curculionidae)
Ruddle, K. 1973. The human use of insects: Examples from the Yukpa. Biotropica
5(2): 94-101. (Introduction and under
most orders and families)
Santelos, P. de. 1959. Etnografía Yucpa: Economía domestica. Venezuela
Misionera 247: 244; 249:302-304.*
Caracas.
Santelos reported (pp.
244, 302) that, among insects eaten, the Irapa groups ate two kinds of palm
worms (mikarka and etme), leafcutting ants, and wasp larvae.
Wilbert, J. 1960. Zur Kenntnis der Parirí. Archiv fur Volkerkunde 15:80-153.
In a brief account of
insects eaten by the Parirí, Wilbert (p. 109) mentioned beetle larvae, applying
the term etme to the "caña brava beetle," bee and wasp larvae,
and leafcutting ants. Also mentioned is
a larva extracted from trees of the genus Ficus when felled.
Chapter 7 of The Human Use of Insects as a Food Resource: A
Bibliographic Account in Progress, by Gene R. De Foliart, posted on website
July, 2002