page_title: Entomophagy
section_title: In humans
hierarchical_section_title: Entomophagy / In humans
caption_attribution_description: English: Mealworms. Displayed as if for human consumption in an exhibit at an aquarium.
context_page_description: Entomophagy describes the practice of eating insects.
context_section_description: The eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults of certain insects  have been eaten by humans from prehistoric times to the present day. Around 3,000 ethnic groups practice entomophagy. Human insect-eating is common to cultures in most parts of the world, including Central and South America, Africa, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Eighty percent of the world's nations eat insects of 1,000 to 2,000 species. In some societies, primarily western nations, entomophagy is uncommon or taboo. Today, insect eating is uncommon in North America and Europe, but insects remain a popular food elsewhere, and some companies are trying to introduce insects as food into Western diets.  FAO has registered some 1,900 edible insect species and estimates that there were, in 2005, some two billion insect consumers worldwide. They suggest eating insects as a possible solution to environmental degradation caused by livestock production.
caption: Mealworms presented in a bowl for human consumption
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