Bengaluru study documents 75 edible beetle species in Northeast India

Priyadarsanan Dharma Rajan and colleagues at Bengaluru’s Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment have documented 75 beetle species used in the food practices of indigenous communities in Northeast India.

The research, published in *npj Entomology*, involved interviews with 162 people from nine communities in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland. It identifies 24 species reported as edible for the first time globally, along with five whose edible use had not previously been documented in India.

Beetles were harvested from forests, bamboo clusters, paddy fields and wetlands, then boiled, roasted or fried, sometimes with bamboo shoots and local spices. A nutritional analysis of four species found protein levels ranging from 22.43% to 61% of dry weight, with the researchers cautioning against treating all edible beetles as nutritionally alike.

Nearly 79% of harvesters interviewed said wood-boring beetle populations had declined over the past decade. Of those reporting declines, 63% cited deforestation and habitat loss. The team recommends habitat protection, season- and life-stage-specific harvesting, possible mass rearing, and indigenous communities’ involvement in decisions on sustainable use.