From Pest to Protein

Edible Cicadas and Their Leucaena Association in Monte Albán, Oaxaca, Mexico

Bibliographic Data

ID3243366
AuthorsRafael F Del Castillo (0000-0003-0761-5174, CIIDIR Oaxaca, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Oaxaca, Mexico, corresponding author), Trujillo-Argueta, Sonia Trujillo‐Argueta (0000-0002-3487-4078, Instituto Tecnológico de Oaxaca), S Trujillo-Argueta (CIIDIR Oaxaca, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Oaxaca, Mexico), José Antonio Sánchez-García (0000-0002-7439-3674, Instituto Tecnológico de Oaxaca), Roselia Jarquín-López (Instituto Tecnológico de Oaxaca)
Year2025
Volume45
Issue3
Pages198-208
Publication date2025-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Ethnobiology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0278-0771 • E-ISSN: 2162-4496
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/02780771251349287
OpenAlexW4411603461
LanguageEN
References cited30

The use of insects and their hosts is essential in Mesoamerican bio-culture. Preserving this rich heritage and associated biodiversity is a multifaceted process. The first steps involve correctly identifying the used species, documenting its basic ecology, and the collecting and consumption methods. In the Monte Albán archeological site, Oaxaca, Mexico, spanning 13 centuries of pre-Hispanic occupation, local people still practice traditional native species utilization. One of the most used insect species is the cigarras . We sequenced a 648 bp region of this edible cicada's cytochrome oxidase gene. These DNA sequences and morphological studies concur that the cicada used is Quesada gigas (Olivier 1905) (Homoptera). People collect cicadas from April to May and cook them for self-consumption. Based on archeological and etymological evidence of one of their major hosts, the guaje , Leucaena esculenta (DC.) Benth (Fabaceae), the cicada consumption likely has pre-Hispanic roots. The cicada and the guaje pods are rich in proteins, probably due to the guaje's symbiotic association with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. The pods are collected for self-consumption during winter. Thus, the guaje-cigarra system provides humans with two protein sources during the dry season at different times. Q. gigas is considered a pest of some crops, illustrating different people's contrasting perceptions of the same insect. The Quesada consumption in Oaxaca might be part of a pre-Hispanic symbiosis between the guaje and humans and an example of how a potential insect pest can be used as an alternative protein source. Monte Albán is a biodiversity and pre-Hispanic traditions reservoir worth preserving

Agronomy · Archaeology · Biology · Botany · Geography · Leucaena · PEST analysis · Biological Control of Invasive Species · Insect Utilization and Effects · Plant and animal studies · Forestry

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