From Pest to Protein: Edible Cicadas and Their <i>Leucaena</i> Association in Monte Albán, Oaxaca, Mexico

The use of insects and their hosts is essential in Mesoamerican bio-culture. Preserving this rich heritage and associated biodiversity is a multifaceted process. The first steps involve correctly identifying the used species, documenting its basic ecology, and the collecting and consumption methods. In the Monte Albán archeological site, Oaxaca, Mexico, spanning 13 centuries of pre-Hispanic occupation, local people still practice traditional native species utilization. One of the most used insect species is the cigarras . We sequenced a 648 bp region of this edible cicada's cytochrome oxidase gene. These DNA sequences and morphological studies concur that the cicada used is Quesada gigas (Olivier 1905) (Homoptera). People collect cicadas from April to May and cook them for self-consumption. Based on archeological and etymological evidence of one of their major hosts, the guaje , Leucaena esculenta (DC.) Benth (Fabaceae), the cicada consumption likely has pre-Hispanic roots. The cicada and the guaje pods are rich in proteins, probably due to the guaje's symbiotic association with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. The pods are collected for self-consumption during winter. Thus, the guaje–cigarra system provides humans with two protein sources during the dry season at different times. Q. gigas is considered a pest of some crops, illustrating different people's contrasting perceptions of the same insect. The Quesada consumption in Oaxaca might be part of a pre-Hispanic symbiosis between the guaje and humans and an example of how a potential insect pest can be used as an alternative protein source. Monte Albán is a biodiversity and pre-Hispanic traditions reservoir worth preserving.