Defoliator Pest to Caboclos and Gourmet Food to the Suruí Indians: Contrasting Amazonian Perspectives of Lusura sp. Caterpillars | Zendy

Carlos Ε. A. Coimbra | Zendy

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Defoliator Pest to Caboclos and Gourmet Food to the Suruí Indians: Contrasting Amazonian Perspectives of Lusura sp. Caterpillars

Author(s) -

Carlos Ε. A. Coimbra

Publication year - 2012

Publication title -

ethnobiology letters

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

ISSN - 2159-8126

DOI - 10.14237/ebl.3.2012.43

Subject(s) - caterpillar , arboreal locomotion , pest analysis , geography , context (archaeology) , lepidoptera genitalia , amazon rainforest , agroforestry , ecology , forestry , biology , archaeology , botany , habitat

The use of a Lusura sp. (Lepidoptera: Notodontidae) caterpillar as food by the Surui Indians from the southwestern Brazilian Amazon is reported in the context of family collecting excursions during arboreal infestations observed in July-August 1983. This caterpillar erupts in very large numbers on Brazil nut trees, denuding them of foliage. The paper calls attention to contrasting views about these caterpillar infestations among different inhabitants of the forest, being considered a desirable food delicacy by the Surui and a destructive pest defoliator by caboclos.

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