Table 1 Inventory of edible insects used by members of the Wangcho (Wancho) tribe of Eastern Arunachal Pradesh
Scientific name | Order | Family | English name | Vernacular name | Seasonal availability | Mode of intake | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chondacris rosea (DeGeer 1773) | Orthoptera | Acrididae | Short horn grasshopper | Okuk | Sept- Nov | Head, appendages and wings are discarded and bodies are roasted | |
Unidentified | Orthoptera | Acrididae | Short horn grasshopper | Okuk | Sept- Oct | roasted | |
Brachytrupes sp. | Orthoptera | Gryllidae | Cricket | Okuk | May- Sept | Head, appendages and wings are discarded, bodies are roasted | |
Brachytrupes orientalis (Burmeister 1838) | Orthoptera | Gryllidae | Cricket | Okuk | May- Sept | Head, appendages and wings are discarded, bodies are roasted | |
Aspongopus nepalensis Westwood 1837 | Hemiptera | Pentatomidae | Bug | Longvia | Dec- Feb | Raw paste with chili and ginger | Sometimes consumption causes psychiatric disorder |
Halyomorpha picus (Fabricius 1794) | Hemiptera | Pentatomidae | Bug | Nyajong waekhoi | Nov- Feb | Suck the sting in cold and cough | Not reported as a normal food item for Wangcho (Wancho) people, but used for therapeutic purposes |
Nezara viridula (Linnaeus 1758) | Hemiptera | Pentatomidae | Bug | Jakwikhoi | Dec- Feb | Wings are discarded, roasted | -- |
Rhynchoris humeralis (Thunberg 1783) | Hemiptera | Pentatomidae | Bug | Viapath | Jan- Mar | People use to press the lower portion of the insect to remove the stink gland, wings are discarded and insect is roasted | The secretion is poisonous for the eye, yellowish in colour and it takes one week to remove it from the hand |
Dalader acuticosta (Amyot & Serville 1843) | Hemiptera | Pyrrhocoridae | Bug | Waekhoi | Dec- Feb | Suck the sting in cold and cough | Not reported as a normal food item for Wangcho (Wancho) people, but used for therapeutic purposes |
Mictis tenebrosa (Fabricius 1787) | Hemiptera | Pyrrhocoridae | Bug | Waekhoi | April- Aug | Suck the sting in cold and cough | Not reported as a normal food item for Wangcho (Wancho) people, but used for therapeutic purposes |
Antilochus coqueberti (Fabricius 1803) | Hemiptera | Pyrrhocoridae | Bug | Wanwikhoi/ Wanchong | Around the year | Raw or roasted | Species is used only for therapeutic purposes |
Dorcus sp. | Coleoptera | Lucanidae | Stag beetle | Mogap magai | Aug- Oct | Appendages discarded, roasted | |
Unidentified | Coleoptera | Lucanidae | Stag beetle | Mogap magai | Jul- Sept | Appendages discarded, roasted | |
Unidentified small species | Coleoptera | Mophong molong/ Notphong | June - Sept | Boiled or roasted | |||
Apis mellifera Linnaeus 1758 | Hymenoptera | Apidae | Honeybee | Nakat | Nov- Jan | Honey and sometimes larvae, pupae and queen boiled | |
Apis sp. | Hymenoptera | Apidae | Honeybee | Nakat | Nov –Jan | Honey and sometimes larvae, pupae and queen boiled | |
Xylocopa sp | Hymenoptera | Xylocopidae | Bee | Nakat | Nov- Mar | ||
Unidentified | Hymenoptera | Vespidae | Wasp | Nahtam | Nov- Jan | Immature stages raw or roasted nymph and queen boiled | |
Unidentified | Hymenoptera | Vespidae | Wasp | Thokananu | Oct- Dec | Larvae | |
Oecophylla smaragdina Fabricius 1775 | Hymenoptera | Formicidae | Red ant | Thajao | Round the year | Pupae are consumed |