Traditional knowledge of invertebrates used for medicine and magical–religious purposes by traditional healers and indigenous populations in the Plateau Department, Republic of Benin

Loko, Laura Estelle Yêyinou; Medegan Fagla, Sédami; Orobiyi, Azize; Glinma, Bienvenu; Toffa, Joelle; Koukoui, Omédine; Djogbenou, Luc; Gbaguidi, Fernand

doi:10.1186/s13002-019-0344-x

Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine

Table 6 List of invertebrates use in traditional medicine in Plateau Department

From: Traditional knowledge of invertebrates used for medicine and magical–religious purposes by traditional healers and indigenous populations in the Plateau Department, Republic of Benin

Species	Ailments	Life stage	Used part	Preparation	Application	Dosage (per day)	Used in combination with	SG	FL
Insecta
Achaea catocaloides	Allergy	Adult	WA	Powder	Topical	3 times	Palm oil	G	50.0
	Headache	Nymph		Powder	Oral	2 spoons	-	N	25.0
	Arthritis	Adult		Decoction	Oral	2 cups	Guinea pepper + moringa fruit	N	25.0
Acraea lycoa	Headache	Adult	WA	Powder	Oral, topical	NPD	Shea butter	N	50.0
	Fever			Powder	Topical	NPD	Some plants		25.0
	Diarrhoea			Decoction	Oral	1 cup	Some plants		25.0
Acraea serena	Headache	Adult	WA	Powder	Oral	2 spoons	Some plants	N	66.7
Acraea serena	Earache	Adult	WA	Raw	Topical	NPD	Some plants	N	33.3
Apate monachus	Leprosy	Adult	E	Raw	Topical	NPD	Moringa leaves	N	100.0
Apate monachus	Wound healing	Adult	E	Raw	Topical	NPD	Moringa leaves	N	100.0
Apis mellifera	Dizziness	Adult	WA	Powder	Oral	1 spoon	Some plants	N	50.0
	Tiredness			Powder		1 spoon	Some plants		50.0
	Asthma			Powder		NPD	Some plants		16.6
	Stomachaches			Decoction		1 cup	Guinea pepper		16.6
	Myopia			Powder		1 spoon	Moringa leaves and fruits		16.6
	Madness			Decoction		2 cups	Some plants	M	16.6
Belonogaster juncea	Body aches	Adult	WA	Decoction	Oral	NPD	Some plants	N	33.3
	Burn			Powder	Topical	NPD	Shea butter or palm kernel oil	N	33.3
	Mumps			Powder	Topical	NPD	Palm oil	O, N	33.3
	Tiredness			Decoction	Oral	NPD	Some plants	N	16.6
	Arthritis			Decoction	Oral	NPD	Some plants	N	16.6
Brachytrupes membranaceus	Snake bite	Adult	WA	Powder	Topical	NPD	Some plants	N	66.6
Brachytrupes membranaceus	Scorpion sting	Adult	WA	Decoction	Oral	2 cups	Some plants	N	33.4
Camponotus maculatus	Alcoholism	Adult	WA	Maceration	Oral	NPD	Local alcohol	H	100.0
Ceriagrion glabrum	Stomachaches	Adult	WA	Decoction	Oral	NPD	Some plants	N	100.0
Danaus chrysippus alcippus	Fibroma	Adult	WA	Maceration	Oral	2 cups	Pepper + local alcohol	N	50.0
Danaus chrysippus alcippus	Headache	Adult	WA	Maceration	Oral	2 spoons	Banana + local alcohol	N	50.0
Formica spp.	Ulcer	Adult	WA	Decoction	Oral	NPD	Some plants	N	20.0
	Malaria			Decoction	Oral	NPD	Some plants		20.0
	Jaundice			Powder	Oral	2 spoons	Aloe vera + moringa leaves		20.0
	Enuresis			Decoction	Oral	NPD	Some plants		20.0
	Memory loss			Powder	Oral	NPD	Honey + Guinea pepper		20.0
Hermetia illucens	External haemorrhoid	Adult	WA	Powder	Topical	NPD	Guinea pepper + palm kernel oil	N	100.0
Limnephilus sp.	Memory loss	Adult	WA	Powder	Oral	2 spoons	Honey + Guinea pepper	N	50.0
	Diabetes			Decoction	Oral	2 cups	Guinea pepper + neem leaves		25.0
	Pains			Decoction	Oral	NPD	Some plants		25.0
Lucilia sericata	Haemorrhoids	Adult	WA	Powder	Oral, topical	NPD	Guinea pepper + palm kernel oil	N	100.0
Luciola discicollis	Myopia	Adult	WA	Powder	Oral	NPD	-	N	100.0
Macrotermes bellicosus	Arthritis	Adult	WA	Decoction	Oral	2 cups	Cassia sp. leaves	N	100.0
Mantis religiosa	Wound healing	Adult	WA	Powder	Topical	NPD	Some plants	N	100.0
Musca domestica	Myopia	Adult	WA	Maceration	Eye drops	NPD	-	N	28.6
	Wound healing			Maceration	Topical	NPD	Some plants	M	14.3
	Haemorrhoids			Powder	Oral, topical	NPD	Shea butter + Guinea pepper	N	14.3
	Madness			Decoction	Topical	NPD	Some plants	N	14.3
	Dizziness			Decoction	Oral	2 cups	Some plants	N	14.3
	Memory loss			Powder	Oral	2 spoons	Some plants	N	14.3
Myrmeleon formicarius	Memory loss	Adult	WA	Decoction	Oral	NPD	Indian hemp + Guinea pepper	N	75.0
Myrmeleon formicarius	Sexual weakness	Adult	WA	Decoction	Oral	NPD	Honey + Some plants	N	25.0
Odontomachus troglodytes	Backache	Adult	WA	Decoction	Oral	2 cups	Some plants	N	50.0
Odontomachus troglodytes	Allergy	Adult	WA	Powder	Topical	NPD	Shea butter + Guinea pepper	N	50.0
Oecophylla longinoda	Stomachaches	Adult	WA	Powder	Oral	2 spoons	Some plants	G	33.3
	Backache			Powder	Topical	NPD		N	16.6
	Hypertension			Decoction	Oral	2 cups		M	16.6
	Body aches			Powder	Topical	NPD		N	16.6
	Pains			Powder	Topical	NPD		N	16.6
Oryctes monoceros	Backache	Adult	WA	Powder	Topical	NPD	Some plants	N	50.0
Oryctes monoceros	Hernia	Adult	WA	Decoction	Oral	2 cups	Some plants	N	50.0
Pachycondyla tarsata	Sickle cell disease	Adult	WA	Decoction	Oral	NPD	Moringa and baobab leaves	N	40.0
	Earache			Decoction	Ear drops	NPD	Guinea pepper + palm kernel oil		40.0
	Alcoholism			Powder	Oral	1 spoon	-		20.0
Periplaneta americana	Alcoholism	Adult	WA	Maceration	Oral	2 cups	Moringa root + Guinea pepper + alcohol	N	45.5
	Fever			Maceration	Oral	2 cups	Some plants	N	18.2
	External haemorrhoid			Powder	Oral	NPD	Some plants	G	18.2
	Internal haemorrhoid			Powder	Oral	NPD	Some plants	G, N	27.3
	Arthritis			Maceration	Oral	NPD	Guinea pepper + alcohol	N	9.1
	Epilepsy			Decoction	Oral	NPD	Some plants	N	9.1
Phaneroptera nana sparsa	Athlete’s foot	Adult	WA	Powder	Topical	NPD	Parrot feathers	O	100.0
Rhynchophorus phoenicis	Headache	Adult	WA	Decoction	Topical	NPD	Guinea pepper + tomato leaves	N	33.3
	Tooth decay			Powder	Oral	NPD	Honey + quackgrass roots		33.3
	Fever			Powder	Oral	1 spoon	Palm kernel oil		33.3
Scarabaeus nitens	Tooth decay	Adult	WA	Decoction	Oral	NPD	Some plants	N	100.0
Trithemis arteriosa	Headache	Adult	WA	Decoction	Oral	NPD	Some plants	N	100.0
Gastropoda
Achatina achatina	Fertility	Adult	WA	Decoction	Oral	1 cup	Some plants	G, O, N, H	18.2
	Haemorrhoids		SWS	Powder	Oral, topical	NPD	Palm oil	G, N	12.1
	Wound healing		SS	Powder	Topical	NPD	Shea butter	N, T	12.1
	Difficult childbirth		SWS	Cooked	Oral	NPD	Some plants	N	12.1
	Stomachaches		WA	Powder	Oral	NPD	Alcohol	G, N	9.1
	Myopia		SSL	Raw	Eye drops	NPD	-	G, N	9.1
	Menstrual cramps		WA	Decoction	Oral	1 cup	Some plants	N	6.0
	Paralysis		SWS	Infusion	Oral	2 cups	Some plants + lemon	N	3.0
	Abscess		WA	Raw	Topical	NPD	Some plants + soap	M	3.0
	Haemorrhage		SSL	Raw	Topical	NPD	Some plants	M	3.0
	Varicella		WA	Powder	Rubbed	NPD	Some plants	H	3.0
	Epilepsy		WA	Cooked	Oral	NPD	Some plants	M	3.0
	Swollen feet		WA	Raw	Topical	NPD	Some plants + soap	M	3.0
Archachatina marginata	Difficult childbirth	Adult	SWS	Decoction	Oral	NPD	Some plants	N	33.3
	Liver dysfunction		WA	Decoction		1 cup	Some plants		16.6
	Haemorrhoids		WA	Maceration		1 cup	Guinea pepper + some plants		16.6
	Menstrual cramps		WA	Decoction		2 cups	Some plants		16.6
	Splenomegaly		WA	Decoction		2 cups	Guinea pepper + fermented maize + some plants		16.6
Limicolaria aurora	Hypertension,	Adult	WA	Powder	Topical	NPD	Tortoise	G	33.3
	Hypotension			Powder	Topical	NPD	Tortoise	G	33.3
	Ulcer			Decoction	Oral	NPD	Some plant	N	33.3
Crustaceans
Callinectes amnicola	Vaginal infections	Adult	WA	Decoction	Oral	2 cups	Guinea pepper + tobacco leaves	N	33.3
	Headache			Decoction		2 spoons	Neem leaves		33.3
	Arthritis			Decoction		2 cups	Bark of caïlcédrat		16.6
	Tuberculosis			Powder		2 spoons	White onion		16.6
	Fever			Decoction		2 spoons	Some plants		16.6
Penaeus spp.	Backache	Adult	WA	Powder	Oral	NPD	Some plants	N	50.0
Penaeus spp.	Tuberculosis	Adult	WA	Decoction	Oral	NPD	Sugar + chicken egg shell + salt	N	50.0
Clitellata
Eudrilus eugeniae	Difficult childbirth	All life stages	WA	Powder, decoction, maceration	Oral	NPD	Guinea pepper + alcohol	N, H, G, O, T	45.0
	Epilepsy			Decoction, powder	Oral, topical	NPD	Some plants	N, T, G	12.5
	Diabetes			Decoction	Oral	2 cups	Some plants	N	12.5
	Fever			Powder	Topical	NPD	Palm kernel oil	G	5.0
	Abscess			Powder	Topical	NPD	Some plants	G	5.0
	External haemorrhoid			Powder	Topical	NPD	Some plants	O, M	5.0
	Internal haemorrhoid			Decoction	Oral	NPD	Some plants	O, M	5.0
	Hernia			Powder	Oral	NPD	Some plants	H	2.5
	Sexual weakness			Decoction	Oral	NPD	Some plants	M	2.5
	Stomachaches			Powder	Topical	NPD	Some plants + soap	N	2.5
	Headache			Powder	Topical	NPD	Some plants	N	2.5
	Paralysis			Powder	Topical	NPD	Some plants	N	2.5
	Pains			Powder	Topical	NPD	Palm kernel oil	G	2.5
Diplopoda
Tachypodoiulus niger	Leprosy	All life stages	WA	Decoction	Oral	2 cups	Some plants	N	28.6
	Paralysis		Feet	Powder	Topical	NPD	Palm kernel oil + some plants		28.6
	Alcoholism		WA	Decoction	Oral	1 cup	Tobacco leaves + Guinea pepper		28.6
	Swollen feet		Feet	Powder	Topical	NPD	Some plants		14.3
Arachnida
Pandinus imperator	Snake bite	Adult	WA	Infusion	Oral, topical	NPD	Alcohol + some plants	G, M	30.0
	Scorpion sting			Powder	Topical	NPD	Some plants	M, N	20.0
	Fibroma			Powder	Oral	NPD	Lemon	N	10.0
	Pains			Powder	Oral	NPD	Some plants	H	10.0
	Arthritis		Tail	Maceration	Oral	NPD	Some plants	M, H	20.0
	Abscess		WA	Powder	Topical	NPD	Palm kernel oil	N	10.0
Araneus spp.	Headache	Adult	WA	Powder	Oral	NPD	Some plants	O, T, N	75.0
Araneus spp.	Arthritis	Adult	WA	Powder	Topical	NPD	Some plants	H	25.0
Salticus spp.	Headache	Adult	WA	Powder	Topical	NPD	Some plants	N, H, M	77.8
	Body ache			Powder	Oral	NPD		N	11.1
	Fever			Powder	Oral	NPD		N	11.1

FL fidelity level, SG sociolinguistic groups, N Nago, G Goun, M Mahi, T Tori, H Holli, O Ouémègbé, WA whole animal, E excrement, SWS snail without shell, SS snail shell, SSL snail slime, NPD no particular dosage

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