01 Insect 27/4/04 12:24 pm Page i Insects and Human Life 01 Insect 27/4/04 12:24 pm Page ii This page intentionally left blank 01 Insect 27/4/04 12:24 pm Page iii Insects and Human Life Brian Morris Oxford • New York 01 Insect 27/4/04 12:24 pm Page iv English edition First published in 2004 by Berg Editorial offices: 1st Floor, Angel Court, 81 St Clements Street, Oxford, OX4 1AW, UK 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA © Brian Morris 2004 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the written permission of Berg. Berg is the imprint of Oxford International Publishers Ltd. Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Morris, Brian, 1936– Insects and human life/Brian Morris. –– English ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 1-85973-847-8 (cloth) 1. Beneficial insects––Malawi. 2. Insect pests––Malawi. 3. Beneficial insects––Ecology––Malawi. 4. Insects–– Ecology––Malawi. I. Title. SF517.3.M67 2004 595.716’3’096897––dc22 2004006120 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 1 85973 847 8 (cloth) 1 84520 075 6 (paper) Typeset by Avocet Typeset, Chilton, Aylesbury, Bucks Printed in the United Kingdom by Biddles Ltd, King’s Lynn www.bergpublishers.com 01 Insect 27/4/04 12:24 pm Page v To my lifelong friends, Anne and John Killick 01 Insect 27/4/04 12:24 pm Page ii This page intentionally left blank 01 Insect 7/5/04 2:38 pm Page vii Contents List of Tables ix List of Figures xi Preface xiii Introduction 1 1. Folk Classifications of Insects 13 2. Insects as Food 49 3. Bees and Bee-keeping 93 4. Insects and Agriculture 109 5. Household Pests and Locust Swarms 145 6. Insects and Disease 161 7. Cultural Entomology 181 Appendix: Insect Life of Malawi 217 Bibliography 291 References 293 Index 311 01 Insect 27/4/04 12:24 pm Page ii This page intentionally left blank 01 Insect 27/4/04 12:24 pm Page ix List of Tables Table 1.1 Navajo Classification of Insects 22 Table 1.2 Number of Folk Generics per Insect Order 23 Table 1.3 Relationships of Generics to Taxa in the Main Insect Orders 40 Table 2.1 Nutritive Values of Four Edible Caterpillars per 100 gm Dry Weight 88 Table 2.2 Caterpillar Collections in Kasungu National Park, 1994–2000 90 Table 4.1 Armyworm Infestations in Malwi, 1994–5 113 Table 4.2 Crops Attacked by Various Genera of Termites in Southern Malawi 117 Table 4.3 Incidence of Termite Damage by Crop 118 Table 4.4 Numbers of Farmers in the Lower Shire Valley Identifying Particular Cotton Pests as Important to them 126 Table 5.1 Numbers of People Considering Specific Insects their most Troublesome Household Pests (of a Total of 70 Interviewees from Villages around Kapalasa Farm) 150 Table 6.1 Morbidity and Mortality from Various Causes, Mulanje Mission Hospital, 1998: Children under Five 162 Table 6.2 Morbidity and Mortality from Various Causes, Mulanje Mission Hospital, 1998: Adults 163 Table 7.1 Types of Insect Mentioned in Malawian Proverbs and Riddles 209 01 Insect 27/4/04 12:24 pm Page ii This page intentionally left blank 01 Insect 27/4/04 12:24 pm Page xi List of Figures Fig. 1 Peter Mofor, drying termites, Kapalasa, December 2000. 61 Fig. 2 Meria White with nest of Ntchiu (Anaphe panda, the processionary caterpillar), Kapalasa. 78 Fig. 3 Mary Malata cooking Ntchiu caterpillars (Anaphe panda), Kapalasa. 79 Fig. 4 Bunaea alcinoe, caterpillars, Kapalasa. 81 Fig. 5 Market vendor, Zomba, selling insecticides. 143 Fig. 6 Number 2. Blatoidea, Periplaneta americana, Cockroach, Mphemvu, Makwawa, 3 July 2001. 219 Fig. 7 Number 7. Mantidae, Polyspilota aeruginosa, Barred Mantis, Chiswambiya, Kapalasa, 14 March 2001. 222 Fig. 8 Number 10. Pamphagidae, Lobosceliana brevicomis, Toad Grasshopper, Tsokonombwe, Kapalasa, 20 January 2001. 224 Fig. 9 Number 17. Acrididae, Gastrimargus africanus, Yellow-Winged Grasshopper, Chidyamamina, Makoka, 23 May 2001. 228 Fig. 10 Number 18. Acrididae, Acrida sulphuripennis, Sulphur Acrida, Chigomphanthiko, Kapalasa, 30 May 2001. 229 Fig. 11 Number 19. Acrididae, Catantops spissus, Blue- Winged Grasshopper, Nakagunda, Kapalasa, 12 May 2001. 230 Fig. 12 Number 26. Acrididae, Ornithacris magnifica, Common Locust, Mphangala, Makwawa, 14 March 2001. 232 Fig. 13 Number 26. Acrididae, Ornithacris (orientalis) cyanea, Oriental Locust, Chiwala, Kapalasa, 12 February 2001. 233 Fig. 14 Number 27. Acrididae, Acanthacris ruficornis, Tree Locust, Chiwala/Dzombe, Kapalasa, 14 March 2001. 234 Fig. 15 Number 30. Tettigoniidae, Homorocoryphus vicinus, Common (Green) Katydid, Bwanoni, Kapalasa, 24 May 2001. 235 01 Insect 27/4/04 12:24 pm Page xii xii • List of Figures Fig. 16 Number 56. Dynastidae, Oryctes boas, Rhinoceros Beetle, Chipembere, Blantyre, 3 October 2000. 245 Fig. 17 Number 59. Cetoniidae, Amaurodes passerinii (Mecynorrhina passerinii), Nsopa Beetle, Kapalasa, 30 November 2000. 247 Fig. 18 Number 59. Cetoniidae, Ranzania petersiana (Taurhina splendens), Green Flower Beetle, Kapalasa, 3 February 2001. 247 Fig. 19 Number 62. Buprestidae, Sternocera (variabilis) orissa, Jewel Beetle, Nkumbutera, Makwawa, 26 January 2001. 249 Fig. 20 Number 63. Elateridae, Tetralopus terotundifrons, Black Click Beetle, Chindenga, Zoa, 11 February 2001. 249 Fig. 21 Number 72. Cerambycidae, Ceroplesis orientalis, Redbanded Longhorn Beetle, Ligombera, Kapalasa, 6 January 2001. 253 Fig. 22 Number 76. Cerambycidae, Mecosaspis plutina, Blue Longhorn Beetle, Mwase, Kapalasa, 9 November 2000. 254 Fig. 23 Number 106. Thaumetopoeidae, Anaphe panda, Processionary Moth, Ntchiu, Collective Cocoon on Bridelia micrantha, Kapalasa, 2 February 2001. 268 Fig. 24 Number 107. Psychidae, Eumetia cervina (Clania moddermanni), Bagworm Moth, Ntemankhuni, Kapalasa, 12 May 2001. 269 Fig. 25 Number 130. Xylocopidae, Xylocopa mossambica (caffra), Pied Carpenter Bee, Bemberezi, Kapalasa, 11 November 2000. 281 Fig. 26 Number 130. Xylocopidae, Xylocopa flavorufa, Rufous Carpenter Bee, Bemberezi, Kapalasa, 2 October 2000. 281 Fig. 27 Number 130. Xylocopidae, Xylocopa nigrita, Large Carpenter Bee, Bemberezi, Kapalasa, 6 May 2001. 281 01 Insect 27/4/04 12:24 pm Page xiii Preface I have always experienced an intense joy in the natural world, particularly in regard to what the Taoists described as the ‘ten thousand things’ – the myriad of life-forms that inhabit the earth – for me insects, plants, fungi, frogs, birds and mammals having an especial interest. The first book I ever owned was called Look and Find Out Birds (by W. P. Westell), and the first article I ever published was entitled ‘Denizen of the Evergreen Forest’ (in African Wildlife 1962), describing the habits and life history of a rather rare pouched rat Beamys hindei. I have thus never considered myself a ‘real’ anthropologist – nowadays they all seem to be obsessed with language, metaphor and hermeneutics. I belong, rather, to a tribe of scholars who became extinct in the nineteenth century; they described themselves as ‘naturalists’, as students of natural history. My intellectual tendencies and aspirations thus tend to be fundamentally empirical, realist and historical. That’s why my favourite authors are all orientated towards history and biology – Darwin, Kropotkin, Dubos, Mayr, Jonas and Bookchin. This, my latest book, is about insects, or rather, about the relationship between humans and insects in Malawi. It reflects an interest that goes back a long way, as I was an avid reader of the essays of Jean-Henri Fabre in my youth, and I made notes and sketches on insects in Malawi when I lived at Zoa and Limbuli during the years 1958–1965. I actually discov- ered then an insect new to science – Hemimerus morrisii, which, believe it or not, is a parasitic, flightless earwig that lives in the nest of the pouched rat. As it has no relevance at all to the lives of Malawians, this insect is not mentioned in this book. One of my earliest published articles in anthropology was in fact an analysis of Navajo ethnoentomology (1979), which explored the relationship between the Navajo classification of insects and their symbolism. This present study is specifically based on ethnoentomological research undertaken in 2000–2001, which was sponsored by a grant from the Leverhulme Trust. For this support I am grateful. As research is always a collective enterprise, I would very much like to thank the following people for supporting and encouraging in various ways my research studies in Malawi. 01 Insect 27/4/04 12:24 pm Page xiv xiv • Preface Firstly, I should like to thank those who gave me institutional support; and I was happy again to be affiliated to the Centre of Social Research, University of Malawi, Zomba. I should therefore particularly like to express my thanks to Eston Sambo, the university research co-ordinator, and Wycliffe Chilowa, the director of the centre, for their warm and continuing support of my research endeavours. Secondly, basing myself at Kapalasa farm near Namadzi, I should like to express my thanks to the late Sven Grüner and his family for their support and hospitality, and all the people of Kamalo village for tolerat- ing my intrusions, and for offering me friendship, instruction and insights into their cultural life, especially with regard to insects. In this respect I should also like to thank Feston Damson, Christina Kasiya, Jackson Kasinja, Mary Malata, Biswick Mataya, James Matanika, Peter and Teresa Mofor, Joyce Molombo, James Stima, Meria White and Andreya Zakaliya. Thirdly, I should like to thank people at several research institutions, all of whom welcomed me as a visiting scholar, and helped me in my research. At the National Archives in Zomba, I much appreciate the help given to me by Stanley Gondwe and Elliam Kamanga in tracking down old reports and documents relating to insects.