Edible insect consumption called entomophagy is very important in ensuring food security especially in a developing country like Nigeria, but promotion of entomophagy after a long period of adoption of western diets demands a comprehensive inventory of edible insect consumption in the past. At present, there is little or no repository of document with comprehensive information on edible insects consumed in the south eastern states of Nigeria and methods of use is also scarce in literature. It becomes imperative to assess edible insect consumption in the region as a background for promotion of entomophagy in the area. The study used questionnaires and oral interviews to obtain information on types of edible insects consumed, season of harvest, cooking methods, local dishes with edible insects, people’s reaction to edible insect consumption, challenges of entomophagy business and ethno-cultural beliefs on edible insect consumption. Of the 2,000 individuals sampled, 56.4% were males, 43.6% females, with 22.4% children, 19.6% teenagers, 24.2% young adults, 16.6% older adults and 17.2% aged above 60 years of age. The result showed that seventeen insect species belonging to six orders were consumed and harvesting is mainly during the rains, though some recorded year round availability. Restricted seasonal availability and high collecting costs are among the reported barriers to edible insect consumption The most common cooking methods documented in the study were frying or roasting. Six traditional dishes were found to include edible insects. Four ethno-cultural beliefs on some edible insects were also documented. Edible insect farming is therefore recommended as a strategy to bridge the gap between insect protein supply and demand in the region.

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The dearth of animal protein in Nigeria and the need for environmental friendly animal protein productionnecessitates the use of edible insects as an alternative protein source. To ensure the sustainability of edible insects, a cost-effective captive method of rearing needs to be devised. This study was designed to investigate alternative culture media for rearing African palm weevil Rhynchophorus phoenicis under captive management. One hundred and sixty eight palm weevils collected from ‘Mgbo swamp’ in Ebenebe town, Anambra State, were used for the study. The larvae were randomly assigned to eight different culture media (coconut fibre, coconut fibre with palm wine, sawdust of mahogany, sawdust of mahogany with palm wine, palm frond petiole, palm bunch midrib, sugarcanetops (SCT), spoilt watermelon (SWM)). Survivability, growth performance in terms of weight gain and increasein linear body measurements (within 10 weeks) as well as pupation of the larvae (within 35-40 days after the first 10 weeks) were monitored and used as indices of the suitability of each of the culture media. The result showedthat the larva thrived better in SWM and SCT but failed to pupate in SWM. The statistical analysis of the growth performance showed a significant difference (P<0.05) in weight gain in favour of larvae reared in SWM. Numericalvalues for larvae reared in SWM were 8.933±0.1764 and 7.433±0.66 g, respectively. There was no significantdifference (P>0.05) for the linear body measurement: 4.80±0.230 cm body length increases and 1.1±0.058 cm for body width increases for larvae on SWM, while those on SCT recorded 4.183±0.0601 cm body length increasesand 1.033±0.033 cm body width increases. Cocoon formation and pupation was not observed in the larva in the SWM in the 40-day period of observation

Physical body traits of nine grasscutters (Thryonomys swinderianus Temminck)were characterized using body weights (BW), body length (BL), heart girth (HG), and height-at-withers (H). Simple linear correlation matrix showed high, positive and significant values among the parameters studied (P < 0.01). The highest coeffic ent was obtained for body weight and body length (r = 0.9956). The very high associations for body length and heart girth (r = 0.9821) and between body length and height (r = 0.9905) indicate that frame size and absolute height were complementary. Selection for increased measurement in any of the parameter would mean positive significant influence on the other and would lead to increased skeletal stature with concomitant increases in other absolute body measurements. Regression equations from this study could be used to estimate live body weights o grasscutters aged between 2 -10 months. i f

Survivability, growth performance and nutrient composition of the African Palm weevil (APW) (Rhyncophorus phoenicis) reared on four different substrates was investigated following earlier finding that Sugar cane tops (SCT) and Spoilt water melon (SWM) could be useful in captive rearing of the weevil. This necessitated a search into other waste fruits that could be used as media for rearing of APW as their infestation of oil and raffia palm is not only unfriendly to the environment but also wastage of economic resources. The growth and nutrient composition of the larvae in three waste fruits (Not rotten but not fit for human consumption): Spoilt Water Melon (SWM), Ripe Paw paw (RPP), Spoilt Pine apple (SPA) and Sugarcane tops (SCT: Off Cut from the tip of sugarcane) were compared in this study. One hundred and twenty newly emerged APW larvae of similar weights collected from "Mgbo swamp" in Ebenebe town, Anambra State, Nigeria, were used for the study which lasted for ten weeks. Thirty larvae were randomly assigned to each of the treatments (Culture media). The experiment was designed on a 4 x 3 Completely Randomized Designed, whereby each treatment had 30 APW larvae in three replicates of 10 larvae per replicate. The larvae were housed in plastic bowls of 30cm diameter and 40cm height. The bottom part of each bowl was perforated to let out moisture and the top covered with mosquito net to avoid flies. The substrates in each housing unit were removed and replaced with fresh ones on weekly basis to minimize microbial attack. Survivability, growth performance in terms of weight gain and increase in linear body measurements within 10 weeks were monitored and used as indices of the suitability of each of the culture media. At the end of the experiment three larvae were randomly selected from each replicate and taken to the