EDIBLE INSECTS AS PART OF THE TRADITIONAL FOOD SYSTEM OF THE POPOLOCA TOWN OF LOS REYES METZONTLA, MEXICO

Edible insects are an integral part of the Traditional Food System of the Popoloca people of Los Reyes Metzontla in Mexico. Investigation of the knowledge associated with the gathering, preparation, consumption and classification (hot-cold) of edible insects shows that insect gathering is closely related with other activities such as subsistence agriculture, firewood collection and animal husbandry. These activities involve visits to the scrubland where, in addition, many wild foods are gathered depending upon their temporal availability. The people of Los Reyes Metzontla consume at least 17 species of insects. One of them, (Mormidea (Mormidea) notulata, Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), is a new record for the Edible Insects Database in Mexico and a new record for the state of Puebla.