Author(s)

Lucie Aba-Toumnou^1*, Solange-Patrica Wango², Denis Beina^3,4, Jean-Pierre Moalbaye², Gorgon Igor Touckia⁵, Rufin Reo-Ndouba¹, Felix Allah-Barem⁶, Olga Diane Yongo⁴

¹Laboratory of Biological and Agronomical Sciences for Development, Faculty of Sciences, University of Bangui, Bangui, Central African Republic.
²Laboratory of Applied Animal Biology and Biodiversity, University of Bangui, Bangui, Central African Republic.
³Center of Studies and Research on Pharmacopoeia and Traditional African Medicine (CERPHAMETA), University of Bangui, Bangui, Central African Republic.
⁴Plant and Fungal Biodiversity Laboratory, Faculty of Science, University of Bangui, Bangui, Central African Republic.
⁵Higher Institute for Rural Development (ISDR), University of Bangui, Mbaïki, Central African Republic.
⁶Central African Republic Institute of Agriculture Research, Bangui, Central African Republic.

In Central African Republic, edible caterpillars of Imbrasia gender are income of rural populations, present an opportunity to improve food security and belonging to the category of Non-wood forest products. The goal of this study is to document the ecology of caterpillars of genre Imbrasia in relation to its host plants in Boukoko. The questionnaire was addressed to the actors of the collection and consumption of caterpillars in this Commune, to their local knowledge concerning this food resource as well as the plants of their locality on which caterpillars are collected. The survey took place in September to October 2022 and as a general rule, the 120 respondents were elderly people whose age range varied from 35 to 70 years old. Plant samples are collected in their natural environment. Based on local names; herbaria are mounted, plants photographed and samples collected. The types of edible caterpillars have been inventoried in the field in collaboration with the local populations who consume them. Based on local names, the caterpillars are captured manually from morphological traits and then stored in bottles containing 70% ethanol. The specimens were identified. The data was entered into the Excel spreadsheet which also made it possible to produce histograms with the frequencies of the plant species most valued by the different caterpillars. A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was then performed using R software to highlight the correlation between caterpillars and host plants. The main economic importance trees hosting edible caterpillars of Imbrasia gender in Boukoko region are: Entandrophragma cylindricum, Pentaclethra macrophylla, Maesopsis eminii, Albizia ferruginea, Macaranga spinosa, Amphimas ferrugineus, Pentaclethra macrophylla, Racosperma auriculiforme, Eribroma oblonga. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) carried out to assess the variability between the different species of caterpillars according to their host plants shows that the first two axes F1 and F2 explain 27.34% of the overall variability. The different variables along the two factorial axes are weakly correlated. The caterpillar species Imbrasia truncata, Imbrasia epimethea, Imbrasia obscura, Imbrasia petiveri, Imbrasia forda and Imbrasia alopia have more host plant diversity than the caterpillar species: Imbrasia melanops, Imbrasia eblis, Imbrasia anthina, Imbrasia wahlbergii and Imbrasia oyemensis.

Forest Degradation, Losing Biodiversity of Consumed Insects, Local Population

Aba-Toumnou, L. , Wango, S. , Beina, D. , Moalbaye, J. , Touckia, G. , Reo-Ndouba, R. , Allah-Barem, F. and Yongo, O. (2024) Biodiversity of Edible Caterpillars of Imbrasia and Host Plants in Boukoko (Central African Republic). Advances in Entomology, 12, 38-55. doi: 10.4236/ae.2024.121004.