African J. Trop. Entomol. Res. Vol. 1 (1) : 3-27, Février 2022 – AFRICAN JOURNAL OF TROPICAL ENTOMOLOGY RESEARCH

Diversity of edible caterpillars and their host plants in the Republic of the Congo

Germain Mabossy-Mobouna^1,2, Justin B. Ombeni^3,4, Thierry Bouyer⁵, Paul Latham⁶, Frank Bisaux⁷, Evelyne Bocquet⁸, Bertie Brinck⁹, Augustin Konda Ku Mbuta¹⁰, Françoise Madamo-Malasi¹¹, Louisa Nkulu Ngoie¹², Paule Pamela Tabi Eckebil¹³ & François Malaisse^14,15

ABSTRACT

A systematic study of edible caterpillars and their host plants was carried out in different departments and localities of the Republic of the Congo. Twenty-nine (29) species of edible caterpillars were identified, of which 22 were determined to species level, i.e., namely 75.9 % of the species collected. The dominance of the Saturniidae and Notodontidae taxonomic families was established. The botanical study of the hosting plants revealed 90 plant species, belonging to 26 botanical families. The Fabaceae family was predominant (with a total of 33 species or 36.7% out of 90), followed by the Phyllanthaceae family (11,1%). Climate change could likely cause a light decrease of the host plants population by the year 2050. This information aims to guide conservation efforts and ensure sustainable use of edible caterpillars as food. It is recommended to particularly focus on the promotion of semi-domestication of edible caterpillars and awareness raising on cultivation techniques of host plants.

Keywords: campeophagy, edible caterpillar, host plant, feeding, Republic of the Congo.

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Affiliations

1 Teacher-Researcher, Laboratoire de Nutrition et d’Alimentation Humaines, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Université Marien Ngouabi, Congo Brazzaville.

2 Unité de Recherche Nutrition, Santé et Motricité Humaine, Institut Supérieur d’Education Physique et Sportive, Université Marien Ngouabi, Congo Brazzaville.

3 Teacher-Researcher, Département de Nutrition et Diététique, Institut Supérieur de Techniques Médicales de Bukavu, Sud Kivu, R.D. Congo

4 Laboraroire d’Entomologie, Centre de Recherche en Sciences Naturelles de Lwiro, CRSN, Bukavu, Sud-Kivu, R.D. Congo.

5 Independent researcher, 57 rue Genot B 4022 Chênée, Belgium.

6 Retired Officer of the Salvation Army, U.K.

7 No recent contact and no email address available.

8 Bioengineer in Management of Forests and Natural Areas, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Université de Liège, Centre d’Enseignement et de Recherche Terra, Forest is Life, Passage des Déportés,2, B-5030, Gembloux (Belgique).

9 No recent contact and no email address available.

10 Biologist, Research Institut in Health Sciences (I.R.S.S.), Kinshasa, D.R. Congo.

11Laboratoire d’Entomologie fonctionnelle et évolutive, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Liège University, Belgium.

12 Manager of a farm at Kafindo village in the vicinity of Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo.

13 Research Assistant, CIFOR-ICRAF, Value Chain Finance and Investments (VFI) Team, CIFOR-ICRAF, Yaoundé-Cameroon.

14 Professor emeritus, Biodiversity and Landscape Unit, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Liège University, Belgium.

15 Meise Botanical Garden, Belgium.

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Article infos

African J. Trop. Entomol. Res. Vol. 1 (1) : 3-27.

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE / OPEN ACCESS

*Corresponding author : Dr. G. Mabossy-Mobouna, E-mail: [email protected]

Received : 02 Octobre 2021

Accepted : 05 Novembre 2021

Published: 08 Février 2022

Author(s) agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

Citation : Mabossy-Mobouna, G., Ombeni, J. B., Bouyer, The., Latham, P., Bisaux, F., Bocquet, E., Brinck, B., Konda Ku Mbuta, A., Madamo-Malasi, F, Nkulu Ngoie, L., Tabi Eckebil, P. P., & Malaisse, F. (2022). Diversity of edible caterpillars and their host plants in the Republic of the Congo. African Journal of Tropical Entomology Research, 1(1), 3–27. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6351855