ArticleJournal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine2021
Entomotherapy: a study of medicinal insects of seven ethnic groups in Nagaland, North-East India.
Article in Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Medicinal invertebrates used in African traditional medicine: a systematic review.Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine · 2026Pooled it
- Rapid Diagnostic PCR Assay Method for Species Identification of Mantidis Ootheca (Sangpiaoxiao) Based on Cytochrom C Oxidase I (COI) Barcode Analysis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Ethnozoological study of medicinal animals used by the inhabitants of the Kucha District, Gamo Zone, Southern Ethiopia.Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine · 2024Article
- Entomophagy and entomo-therapeutic practices in a mountainous territory in southeast Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine · 2024Article
- Article
- Review
- Indigenous knowledge system associated with the uses of insects for therapeutic or medicinal purposes in two main provinces of Burkina Faso, West Africa.Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine · 2022Article
- Sericulture and the edible-insect industry can help humanity survive: insects are more than just bugs, food, or feed.Food science and biotechnology · 2022Review
- Invertebrates and herptiles for livelihoods-ethnozoological use among different ethnic communities in Jammu and Kashmir (Indian Himalayas).Frontiers in pharmacology · 2022Article
- Edible Aquatic Insects: Diversities, Nutrition, and Safety.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe ethnic communities in Nagaland have kept a close relationship with nature since time immemorial and have traditionally used different kinds of insects and their products as folk medicine to treat a variety of human ills and diseases. The present study was conducted to record the entomotherapeutic practices of seven different ethnic groups of Nagaland.
methodDocumentation is based on semi-structured questionnaires and group discussions with a total of 370 informants. The data collected were analysed using fidelity level (FL) and informant consensus factor (ICF).
resultsFifty species of medicinal insects belonging to 28 families and 11 orders were identified in connection with treatments of at least 50 human ailments, of which the most frequently cited were coughs, gastritis, rheumatoid arthritis, stomach ache and wound healing. Mylabris sp. showed the highest fidelity level (FL) of 100% for its therapeutic property as a dermatologic agent, while the informant consensus factor (ICF) ranged from 0.66 to 1.00. The use of medicinal insects varies amongst the seven ethnic groups, suggesting that differences in cultures and geographic location can lead to the selection of specific insect species for specific medicinal purposes. The largest number of insect species appear to be used for treating gastrointestinal, dermatological and respiratory diseases.
conclusionThe list of medicinal insect species, many of which are reported for the first time in the present study, suggests the presence of a considerable diversity of therapeutically important insect species in the region and elaborate folk medicinal knowledge of the local ethnic groups. This knowledge of insects not just as a food, but also as therapy is passed down verbally from generation to generation, but is in danger of being lost if not documented in a systematic way. Having stood the test of time, traditional folk medicinal knowledge and its contribution through entomotherapy should not be regarded as useless as it has the potential to lead to the development of novel drugs and treatment methods.
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