Biodiversity Information Science and Standards :
Conference Abstract
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Corresponding author: Papy Nsevolo (papynsevolo@yahoo.fr)
Received: 28 Sep 2021 | Published: 29 Sep 2021
© 2021 Papy Nsevolo
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Nsevolo P (2021) Authoritative Taxonomic Databases for Progress in Edible Insect and Host Plant Inventories. Biodiversity Information Science and Standards 5: e75908. https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.5.75908
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Insects play a vital role for humans. Apart from well-known ecosystem services (e.g., pollination, biological control, decomposition), they also serve as food for humans. An increasing number of research reports (
Given the global recession due to the pandemic (COVID-19) and the threat induced to food security and food production systems, edible insects are of special interest in African countries, particularly the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where they have been reported as vital to sustain food security. Indeed, to date, the broadest lists of edible insects of the DRC reported (a maximum) 98 insects identified at species level (
Based on the aforementioned challenges, entomophagy practices and edible insect species reported for DRC (from the independence year, 1960, to date) have been reviewed using four authoritative taxonomic databases: Catalogue of Life (CoL), Integrated Taxonomic Information System, Global Biodiversity Information Facility taxonomic backbone, and the Global Lepidoptera Names Index. Results confirm the top position of edible caterpillars (Lepidoptera, 50.8%) followed by Orthoptera (12.5%), Coleoptera and Hymenoptera (10.0% each). A total of 120 edible species (belonging to eighty genera, twenty-nine families and nine orders of insects) have been listed and mapped on a national scale. Likewise, host plants of edible insects have been inventoried after checking (using CoL, Plant Resources of Tropical Africa, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species). The host plant diversity is dominated by multi-use trees belonging to Fabaceae (34.4%) followed by Phyllanthaceae (10.6%) and Meliaceae (4.9%). However, data indicated endangered (namely Millettia laurentii, Prioria balsamifera ) or critically endangered (Autranella congolensis) host plant species that call for conservation strategies. To the best of our knowledge, aforementioned results are the very first reports of such findings in Africa.
Moreover, given issues encountered during data compilation and during cross-checking of scientific names, a call was made for greater collaboration between local people and expert taxonomists (through citizen science), in order to unravel unidentified ethnospecies. Given the challenge of information technology infrastructure in Africa, such a target could be achieved thanks to mobile apps. Likewise, a further call should be made for:
Indeed, these complementary data are very crucial, given the limitations and issues of conventional/traditional identification methods based on morphometric or dichotomous keys and the lack of voucher specimens in many African museums and/or collections. This could be achieved by QR (Quick Response) coding insect species and centralizing data about edible insects in a main authoritative taxonomic database whose role is undebatable, as edible insects are today earmarked as nutrient-rich source of proteins, fat, vitamins and fiber to mitigate food insecurity and poor diets, which are an aggravating factor for the impact of COVID-19.
biodiversity, citizen science, DR Congo
Papy Nsevolo
TDWG 2021
Thanks to all data collectors and to the Supervisor Mr. Lundanda Mashindji Rodrigue