Conocimiento local sobre el uso y la abundancia del Catzo blanco Platycoelia Lutescens (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), una especie comestoble del noreste de la provincia de …

Abstract:

The white “catzo” Platycoelia lutescens (Blanchard, 1850), is an insect that remains most of its life beneath the soil surface. Its larvae feed on the roots of plants, and in this way oxygenate and fertilize the soil of Andean grasslands. At the end of each year, the adults emerge from the soil for their nuptial flight, a stage in which the beetles have been traditionally collected and consumed by the Andean communities of Ecuador for centuries. In this context, the current use and abundance of the species in the Pedro Moncayo County was investigated through interviews and direct observation in several localities. A total of 207 interviews were conducted, which revealed that the inhabitants of the county recognize and currently consume the species. In addition, the residents identified that the abundance of the species has decreased due to different factors such as climate change, the use of pesticides and overharvesting, in agreement with other reports in the literature. It was possible to verify in the field that during the sampling season (November-December 2017), only in one of the six localities studied (Chaupiloma) it was possible to find specimens of this species, with 164 individuals collected; from these specimens significant differences in size between males and females were found, with females being larger. It is concluded that the local tradition of the consumption of this insect remains in force in the Pedro Moncayo county and that due to the reduction in its abundance detected from local knowledge and field samplings it will be necessary in the short term, to develop alternative methods of production of the species, since excessive collection, the …

Año de publicación:

2021

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Fuente:

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