Table 8 Questions and priorities for future research into the ecologies and cultures of insect care. An earlier version of this table and its accompanying text was published by Payne (2015) in Japanese in the journal 生物化学 (Journal of Biological Sciences) [64]

Harvesting

How have people traditionally placed limits on the harvest of edible insects?

What is the impact of traditional harvesting practices on annual population numbers?

Ethnographic studies of insect harvesting practices.

Comparative studies on the ecology of tended vs. non-tended insect populations.

Provisioning

Do provisioned insects have greater reproductive success than non-provisioned insects?

Do provisioned insects differ in nutritional composition compared to non-provisioned insects?

Comparative studies of the ecology and genetics of provisioned vs. non-provisioned populations.

Analysis of the nutrient composition of provisioned and non-provisioned insects.

Keeping

Do kept insects show behavioural patterns not found in wild populations?

Are wild insect populations depleted in areas that practice insect keeping?

Behavioural and genetic studies of wild and kept insects.

Population density surveys of insects in areas with a tradition of insect keeping.

Herding/Ranching

Are there human communities where these practices involve insects as food?

If so, has it altered the species’ ecology and/or genetics, and/or human ranging practices?

Studies of edible insects that are relocated over multiple generations by human communities in order to be harvested as food.

Studies of genetic diversity of insect species that have been relocated over multiple generations by human communities.

Cultivating

Are inbreeding effects detectable in commercially raised insects?

How can farmers limit the threat of species-specific disease?

Studies of genetic diversity in commercially raised insects.

Studies of disease immunity in insect species bred for food and feed.