POTENTIAL DISTRIBUTION OF TWO INSECTS WITH GASTRONOMIC VALUE IN MEXICO

<p class="CUERPO"><strong><span lang="EN-US">Background</span></strong><span lang="EN-US">. Insects constitute the largest group on the planet, with around a million cataloged species. Some species have nutritional value for human beings, being used in various dishes of Mexican cuisine. Estimate the potential distribution of edible insects is required to enhance conservation and harvest practices. <strong>Objective</strong>. To identify the potential areas of occurrence of two insects of gastronomic value: escamoles (<em>Liometopum apiculatum </em>Mayr) and chapulines (<em>Sphenarium purpurascens</em> Charpentier). <strong>Methodology.</strong> Databases were compiled with the geographical coordinates of the two species and 19 bioclimatic variables were downloaded from Worldclim. Subsequently, the potential geographic distribution was estimated by using a novel technique based on dimensionality reduction analysis. Several indices were calculated to evaluate the model performance. <strong>Results</strong>. The results indicated that the distribution of escamoles in Mexico shows a significant concentration in the central area of the country, as well as in some northern and southern states. The potential distribution of chapulines is restricted to central and southern Mexico. <strong>Implications.</strong> The results reveal that distribution of the species covers most of the regions where they are consumed as food, and other areas that may help in conservation and extraction. Chapulines are more at risk than escamoles due to their reduced habitat. <strong>Conclusion.</strong> The potential distributions differ between species, <em>L. apiculatum</em> has a wide distribution in the northern and center of the country, reaching 20% of the total coverage of Mexico; while <em>S. purpurascens</em> has a more limited distribution, of only 6%.</span></p>