Nsenene

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Nsenene
Ruspolia nitidula male (3788698376).jpg
Nsenene look-alike (Ruspolia nitidula)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Orthoptera
Suborder: Ensifera
Family: Tettigoniidae
Genus: Ruspolia
Species:
R. differens
Binomial name
Ruspolia differens
(Serville, 1838)
Synonyms
  • Conocephalus albidonervisRedtenbacher, 1891
  • Conocephalus exiguusStål, 1876
  • Conocephalus lemusRedtenbacher, 1891
  • Conocephalus longipennisRedtenbacher, 1891
  • Conocephalus vicinusWalker, 1869
  • Conocephalus (Homorocoryphus) melanostictusKarny, 1907
  • Homorocoryphus mediotessellatusKarny, 1917

Nsenene is the Luganda name for Ruspolia differens: [1] [2] a bush cricket (a.k.a. katydids or misnamed "long-horned grasshoppers") in the tribe Copiphorini of the 'cone-head' subfamily. It is often confused with the closely related Ruspolia nitidula . [3] [4]

Contents

Distribution and traditional beliefs

Nsenene (Known also as "Senene"). This species has long been known as one of the many totems of Buganda Kingdom of Uganda. This species is a delicacy in central and south-western Uganda. The insect is also found in South Africa, Malawi, Ivory Coast, Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Burundi, Cameroon, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Madagascar, and Mauritius. [5] Traditionally in Uganda, nsenene were collected by children and women. They were given to the women's husbands in return for a new gomasi (a traditional dress for women). Although the women were made to do the treacherous work of collecting nsenene, they were never allowed to eat them. It was believed that women who consume nsenene would bear children with deformed heads like those of a conocephaline bush cricket. Nowadays, nsenene are consumed by most women in the areas where this insect is traditionally eaten. And mostly in Tanzania Haya Regions is considered as treaty and custom of welcoming accompanied dried coffee nuts

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tettigoniidae</span> Family of insects

Insects in the family Tettigoniidae are commonly called katydids, or bush crickets. They have previously been known as "long-horned grasshoppers". More than 8,000 species are known. Part of the suborder Ensifera, the Tettigoniidae are the only extant (living) family in the superfamily Tettigonioidea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orthoptera</span> Order of insects including grasshoppers, crickets, wētā and locusts

Orthoptera is an order of insects that comprises the grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets, including closely related insects, such as the bush crickets or katydids and wētā. The order is subdivided into two suborders: Caelifera – grasshoppers, locusts, and close relatives; and Ensifera – crickets and close relatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mole cricket</span> Members of the insect family Gryllotalpidae

Mole crickets are members of the insect family Gryllotalpidae, in the order Orthoptera. Mole crickets are cylindrical-bodied, fossorial insects about 3–5 cm (1.2–2.0 in) long as adults, with small eyes and shovel-like fore limbs highly developed for burrowing. They are present in many parts of the world and where they have arrived in new regions, may become agricultural pests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grasshopper</span> Common name for a group of insects

Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Entomophagy in humans</span> Practice of eating insects in human cultures

Entomophagy in humans or human entomophagy describes the consumption of insects (entomophagy) by humans in a cultural and biological context. The scientific term used in anthropology, cultural studies, biology and medicine is anthropo-entomophagy. Anthropo-entomophagy does not include the eating of arthropods other than insects such as arachnids and myriapods, which is defined as arachnophagy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caelifera</span> Suborder of insects

The Caelifera are a suborder of orthopteran insects. They include the grasshoppers and grasshopper-like insects, as well as other superfamilies classified with them: the ground-hoppers (Tetrigoidea) and pygmy mole crickets (Tridactyloidea). The latter should not be confused with the mole crickets (Gryllotalpidae), which belong to the other Orthopteran sub-order Ensifera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tetrigidae</span> Family of grasshoppers

Tetrigidae is an ancient family in the order Orthoptera, which also includes similar families such as crickets, grasshoppers, and their allies. Species within the Tetrigidae are variously called groundhoppers, pygmy grasshoppers, pygmy devils or "grouse locusts".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insect farming</span> Raising and breeding insects as livestock

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insects as food</span> Use of insects as food for humans

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<i>Taeniopoda eques</i> Species of grasshopper

Taeniopoda eques, the western horse lubber grasshopper, is a relatively large grasshopper species of the family Romaleidae found in arid and semi-arid parts of southwestern United States to central and southwestern Mexico. Most populations are identifiable by their shiny black bodies with contrasting yellow markings, but some adults are mostly yellowish, orangish or greenish. The species is unique in using its black coloration to thermoregulate and in being chemically defended. The aposematic coloration warns vertebrate predators of its unpalatability and allows the grasshopper to roost conspicuously upon shrubs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copiphorini</span> Tribe of insects

The Copiphorini are a tribe of bush crickets or katydids in the family Tettigoniidae. Previously considered a subfamily, they are now placed in the subfamily Conocephalinae. Like some other members of Conocephalinae, they are known as coneheads, grasshopper-like insects with an extended, cone-shaped projection on their heads that juts forward in front of the base of the antennae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acrididea</span> Infraorder of grasshoppers

Acrididea including the Acridomorpha is an infraorder of insects that describe the grasshoppers and ground-hoppers. It contains a large majority of species in the suborder Caelifera and the taxon Acridomorpha may also be used, which excludes the Tetrigoidea. Both names are derived from older texts, such as Imms, which placed the "short-horned grasshoppers" and locusts at the family level (Acrididae). The study of grasshopper species is called acridology.

<i>Sitona lineatus</i> Species of beetle

Sitona lineatus, commonly known as the pea leaf weevil is a species of weevil with a Palearctic distribution. It is a common pest of beans, peas, and other plants in the family Fabaceae. Adult beetles of S. lineatus measure 3.4-5.3 mm in length. They are characterized by a series of colored scales arranged in alternating lines (striae) on the elytra; it is from this characteristic where the species gets its name lineatus meaning 'lined' or 'striped'. The head and pronotum also have fine pointed setae amongst the scales. The antennae are clubbed, pointed and preceded by 7 segments. The femora is dark, but tibiae and tarsi are red. As a member of Order Coleoptera (beetles) their forewings are modified to form hardened covers over the thorax and abdomen, with the hindwings for flight underneath.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polyneoptera</span> Group of insects

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<i>Pseudophyllus titan</i> Species of cricket-like animal

Pseudophyllus titan, the giant false leaf katydid, is a species of leaf-mimic bush-cricket of the subfamily Pseudophyllinae found in the canopy of tropical forests in Mainland Southeast Asia, Bangladesh, northeastern India, and southernmost China (Yunnan). It is among the largest species in the genus Pseudophyllus, which also makes it one of the world's largest Orthoptera, with a typical length of 13 cm (5.1 in) from head to tip of the folded wings and a wingspan of c. 23 cm (9.1 in). Like many other species of crickets and grasshoppers, the male is capable of stridulation, producing a relatively loud and distinctive, bird-like chirp; it usually stridulates ("sings") at night.

<i>Ruspolia nitidula</i> Species of cricket

Ruspolia nitidula, the Large Conehead, is a species belonging to the subfamily Conocephalinae of the family Tettigoniidae. It is found throughout Europe, Africa, and the Palearctic part of Asia. A vernacular name that has been used is "cone-headed grasshopper", although it is not a grasshopper, but rather a bush cricket.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melanoplini</span> Tribe of grasshoppers

Melanoplini is a tribe of spur-throated grasshoppers in the family Acrididae. There are about 19 genera and more than 200 described species in Melanoplini, all in North America. Their biogeography shows that many species in the tribe have descendants from the Eocene epoch and Miocene epoch.

References

  1. "species Ruspolia differens (Serville, 1838): Orthoptera Species File". orthoptera.speciesfile.org. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
  2. Ssepuuya, Geoffrey; Wynants, Enya; Verreth, Christel; Crauwels, Sam; Lievens, Bart; Claes, Johan; Nakimbugwe, Dorothy; Van Campenhout, Leen (2019-02-01). "Microbial characterisation of the edible grasshopper Ruspolia differens in raw condition after wild-harvesting in Uganda". Food Microbiology. 77: 106–117. doi:10.1016/j.fm.2018.09.005. ISSN   0740-0020. PMID   30297041. S2CID   52940781.
  3. Matojo, Nicodemus D.; Hosea, Keneth M. (2013-05-21). "Phylogenetic Relationship of the Longhorn Grasshopper Ruspolia differens Serville (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) from Northwest Tanzania Based on 18S Ribosomal Nuclear Sequences". Journal of Insects. 2013: e504285. doi: 10.1155/2013/504285 . ISSN   2356-7465.
  4. Leonard, Alfonce; Khamis, Fathiya M; Egonyu, James P; Kyamanywa, Samuel; Ekesi, Sunday; Tanga, Chrysantus M; Copeland, Robert S; Subramanian, Sevgan (2020-10-16). Liu, Tong-Xian (ed.). "Identification of Edible Short- and Long-Horned Grasshoppers and Their Host Plants in East Africa". Journal of Economic Entomology. 113 (5): 2150–2162. doi:10.1093/jee/toaa166. ISSN   0022-0493. PMID   33063829.
  5. Malinga, Geoffrey M; Acur, Amos; Ocen, Patrick; Holm, Sille; Rutaro, Karlmax; Ochaya, Stephen; Kinyuru, John N; Eilenberg, Jørgen; Roos, Nanna; Valtonen, Anu; Nyeko, Philip; Roininen, Heikki (2022-05-07). "Growth and Reproductive Performance of Edible Grasshopper (Ruspolia differens) on Different Artificial Diets". Journal of Economic Entomology. 115 (3): 724–730. doi:10.1093/jee/toac053. ISSN   0022-0493. PMID   35524751.