Position of the project
as it relates to the state of the art

Edible insects have been studied for several decades by entomologists, ethnobiologists and anthropologists, but had attracted little attention until FAO published a report on worldwide insect consumption (Van Huis et al. 2013), which entomologist J. Ramos-Elorduy had already promoted in Mexico since the late 1970’s. In Latin America, most of insect consumption rests mainly on the gathering of wild species, and is based on long-term traditions. Thanks to the common pioneering work of J. Ramos Elorduy and J.M. Pino Moreno, and their numerous publications, Mexico is the country where edible insects are better known, and also where more species are consumed. So far, over 500 species have been listed there (Ramos Elorduy et al. 2012), comparing to about 2000 species listed worldwide (Jongema 2017). With the exception of reviews on Mexico (Ramos Elorduy 1982), Brazil (Ramos Elorduy & Costa-Neto 2006), Ecuador (Onore 1997) and on the whole continent (Costa Neto, 2015, Katz 2016), most publications deal with a specific region or ethnic group. In Mexico, most studies account on species consumed in different areas, sometimes on modes of capture (Ramos Elorduy 1982) and nutritional content (for instance Ramos Elorduy et al. 1987), occasionally culinary processing (Katz 1996, Reyes Prado & Pino Moreno 2020). There are dispersed publications on the Amazon, for instance on indigenous knowledge on edible and non-edible insects (Posey 1978, Choo et al. 2009, Cartay 2018) and on insects in food systems (Dufour 1987); there are some publications on Brazil, especially on the Northeast, mainly authored by Costa Neto (for instance Costa Neto 2004), but more research is needed on this huge country; there are a few works on Northern Argentina and the Chaco (for instance Cebolla 2009) and sparce publications on the Andes, where insect consumption is much less common (Rodríguez Plata 1986, Onore 1997, Smith & Paucar 2000).