thumb|Human consumption of a moth caterpillar (genus [[Cirina, Saturniidae) in Burkina Faso]]
thumb|Fried [[Cirina caterpillars being served on bread for human consumption]]
Entomophagy in humans or human entomophagy describes the consumption of insects (entomophagy) by humans in a cultural and biological context. The scientific term used in anthropology, cultural studies, biology and medicine is anthropo-entomophagy. Anthropo-entomophagy does not include the eating of arthropods other than insects such as arachnids and myriapods, which is defined as arachnophagy.
Entomophagy is scientifically documented as widespread among non-human primates and common among many human communities. The eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults of certain insects have been eaten by humans from prehistoric times to the present day. Around 3,000 ethnic groups practice entomophagy. Human insect-eating is common to cultures in most parts of the world, including Central and South America, Africa, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Eighty percent of the world's nations eat insects of 1,000 to 2,000 species. FAO has registered some 1,900 edible insect species and estimates that there were, in 2005, around two billion insect consumers worldwide. FAO suggests eating insects as a possible solution to environmental degradation caused by livestock production.
In some societies, primarily western nations, entomophagy is uncommon or taboo. While insect eating is uncommon in North America and Europe, insects remain a popular food elsewhere, and some companies are trying to introduce insects as food into Western diets.
Insects eaten around the world include crickets, cicadas, grasshoppers, ants, various beetle grubs (such as mealworms, the larvae of the darkling beetle), and various species of caterpillar (such as bamboo worms, mopani worms, silkworms and waxworms).
Entomophagy, the practice of consuming insects, is frequently proposed as a sustainable alternative to traditional livestock farming. However, recent studies suggest that the widespread adoption of entomophagy in Western countries faces significant challenges, including cultural resistance and economic barriers.
History
Precursors of humans and insect consumption
thumb|Ancient hominids might have gathered [[termites similarly to this bonobo using a stick tool.]]
Evidence suggests that evolutionary precursors of Homo sapiens were entomophagous and arachnophagous. Insectivory also features to various degrees amongst extant primates, such as marmosets and tamarins, and some researchers suggest that the earliest primates were nocturnal, arboreal insectivores.
The archaeological record, in the form of bone tools with wear marks, shows that early hominids such as Australopithecus robustus would gather termites for consumption. Lesnik also reviews multiple studies concluding that wear marks running along the length of the bone are indicative of tools used for digging up termite mounds. These markings are different than those on tools that might have been used to dig up plants and roots, which would have wear marks in multiple directions from digging at a horizontal angle and possibly hitting rocks which are not present in termite hills. Similarly a review of isotope studies show that A. robustus was not eating large amounts of plants and fruits as a source of protein, but it was instead being fulfilled by other means such as animal or insect protein. The remains of KNM-ER 1808, a specimen of Homo erectus dated to around 1.8 million years ago, has often been used as evidence for the hunter model due to its abnormal bone growths pointing to hypervitaminosis A from consuming excess animal liver. However, Mark Skinner has proposed that consuming bee larvae and pupae could also provide enough vitamin A to cause hypervitaminosis A.
Cave paintings in Altamira, north Spain, which have been dated from about 30,000 to 9,000 BC, depict the collection of edible insects and wild bee nests, suggesting a possibly entomophagous society. Africa, Mexico and South America as cheap and sustainable sources of protein. Up to 2,086 species are eaten by 3,071 ethnic groups in 130 countries. Insects are known to be eaten in 80 percent of the world's nations. Udonga montana is a pentatomid bug that has periodic population outbreaks and is eaten in northeastern India.
Traditionally several ethnic groups in Indonesia are known to consume insects—especially grasshoppers, crickets, termites, the larvae of the sago palm weevil, and bees. In Java and Kalimantan, grasshoppers and crickets are usually lightly battered and deep fried in palm oil as a crispy kripik or rempeyek snack. In Banyuwangi, East Java, there is a specialty botok called botok tawon (honeybee botok), which is beehives that contains bee larvae, being seasoned in spices and shredded coconut, wrapped inside a banana leaf package and steamed. Dayak tribes of Kalimantan, also Moluccans and Papuan tribes in Eastern Indonesia, are known to consume ulat sagu (lit. 'sagoo caterpillar') or larvae of sago palm weevil. These protein-rich larvae are considered as a delicacy in Papua, eaten both roasted or uncooked.
In Thailand, certain insects are also consumed, especially in northern provinces. Traditional markets in Thailand often have stalls selling deep-fried grasshoppers, cricket (ching rit), bee larvae, silkworm (non mai), ant eggs (khai mot) and termites.
The use of insects as an ingredient in traditional foodstuffs in places such as Hidalgo in Mexico has been on a large enough scale to cause their populations to decline. In the state of Oaxaca, the use of chapulines (toasted grasshoppers) dates to prehistoric times and today is part of a vibrant economy.
In East Africa, Kunga cake is a food made of densely compressed flies.
In Western culture
As early as around 700 BC. In 400 BC an Assyrian depiction depicted a feast with locusts as a delicacy. Both the Bible and the Quran contain references to eating locusts.
Even in ancient times, the Greeks and Romans ate insects and especially their larvae, such as those of bees and cicadas. Pliny's cossus dwelling in oak, probably a wood borer caterpillar, was considered a delicacy by the Greeks and Romans. The great capricorn beetle (Cerambyx cerdo syn.C. heros) is considered a strong candidate for identification of cossus by some authorities,