Abstract :
[en] On the Malagasy High-Lands, the tapia forests (Uapaca bojeri Baillon Ŕ Euphorbiaceae) shelter wild silk moths of the genus Borocera (Lepidoptera : Lasiocampidae), the landibe. Besides the silk it produces, the landibe also provides food as local populations often eat the chrysalis. The resource is depressed, because of the numerous human and environmental pressures under which it is, as the tapia forests recede. The present research takes part in the Gevabo project (Management and development of the endemic silk moth Borocera cajani). Resulting from a French-speaking Belgian university cooperation, this project is aimed at evaluating the opportunities that could lead to the increase of the landibe populations. At the crossroads of multiple disciplines such as entomology, environment conservation, rural economy and socio-anthropology, solving strategies for a better management of the resource and its ecosystem are considered.
On the one hand, an inventory protocol involving a night light trap was established in purpose to determine the degree of impact of the local forests management on the landibe populations. On the other hand, wild edible products from the tapia forests were studied by interviewing local villagers. Eaten insects, spiders, mushrooms and plants (fruit and other anatomic parts) were described according to the following characteristics : harvest, consumption habits, cooking modes, commercial practices and state of the resource in the surroundings. The establishment of amino acids and fatty acids profiles was undertaken on several resources in purpose to define their contribution in the local usual food diet.
During the inventory sessions, the landibe did not appear in spite of our presence on the field at the right time. Our investigations allowed the discovery of many wild edible resources, or ethnospecies : thirteen insects (five of which belong to the Lepidoptera order), one spider, twenty-five mushrooms and eleven plants. The alimentary profile analysis of the spider, two caterpillars, as well as four dried mushrooms allowed comparing them to rice, basic crop of the research area. Many of those resources are commercialised. Thus, we can provide clear guidelines for further investigations to lead within the project, based on the information we gathered concerning wild edible resources.
