Inventory Reveals Wide Edible Insects’ Biodiversity in Selected Territories of South-Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo

38 In response to growing food demand, edible insects are seen as a potential source to alleviate 39 food insecurity. With its wide edible insects’ biodiversity, the Democratic Republic of Congo 40 is one of the most important biodiversity hotspots in Africa. This study aimed at giving a first 41 insight on inventory showing diversity, perception, consumption, availability, host plants, 42 harvesting techniques and processing techniques of edible insects in South-Kivu, DRC. It 43 recorded twenty-three edible insects belonging to nine families and five orders, some of which 44 are consumed in the larval, adult, egg and pupa stages. Rhyncophorus phoenicis , Alphitobius 45 diaperinus , Macrotermes subhylanus and Acheta domesticus were the most preferred edible 46 insects in Fizi Territory, Ruspolia differens and Apis melifera larvae in Kabare Territory, 47 Imbrasia oyemensis , Imbrasia epimethea , Rhynchophorus ferrugineus and Rhyncophorus 48 phoenicis in Mwenga Territory, Ruspolia differens , Macrotermes subhylanus , Gryllotalpa 49 africana , Nsike , Nomadacris septemfasciata and Apis melifera larvae in Walungu Territory. R. 50 differens , I. oyemensis , A. melifera larvae, G. africana and Nsike were preferred for their taste. 51 A. domesticus , A. diaperinus and A. melifera larvae were abundant throughout the year, while 52 others were only available for 9 months or less per year. Numerous plants have been recorded 53 as their hosts, including plants used for food and income. Harvesting strategies and period, 54 processing methods and preservation techniques depend on insect species, local knowledge 55 and practices. These findings suggest similar and thoroughly studies on entomophagy across 56 the country, while encouraging the rearing of edible insects to address the high existing demand 57 and environmental need. 58


Introduction 72
The world's population is expected to reach 9.8 billion by 2050 and 11.2 billion by 2100 (UN,73 crickets, Rhinocerus beetle, African palm weevil, and caterpillars, while light trapping is the 106 most used to harvest termites, green grasshoppers, house cricket, and mole cricket (Meutchieye 107 et al., 2016;Ebenebe et al., 2017).  The Kabare Territory is located between 2°30' of South latitude and 28°30' of East longitude. 176 Its altitude varies from ~1,420 to 3,200 m and the Territory occupies an area of ~1690 km 2 with 177 an estimated population of ~868,616 which makes it among the most populated in the South-178 Kivu province. The Territory is located in the medium to high altitude AEZ. Available 179 meteorogical data mentioned an annual rainfall average of ~1,572mm, and temperature of 180 ~22.6 °C. Most of Kabare is savanna with natural vegetation consisting of wild grasses. 181 The Territory of Mwenga is located in the middle of the province and is the only Territory 182 surrounded with the other without any country or province borders. It is located between 183 28°25'29'' East longitude and 30°02,16'05'' South latitude. Its altitude varies between 1,500 and 184 1,800 m in the northeast. In the center and the South, it is more or less 670m. In the East, it is 185 more or less 200m and in the West more or less 670m. It has a humid tropical climate with two 186 seasons: the dry season from June to September and the rainy season from September to May. 187 The temperature varies between 21 and 37°C in most of the Territory and is low in the Itombwe 188 area because of the high altitude which goes up to over 2000m. Rainfall reaches 2,000 mm to The Territory of Walungu is located between 2º38' of South latitude and 28º40' of East 194 longitude. Its altitude varies between 1,000m and 2,000m with a cold tropical climate of low 195 altitude. There are two seasons, the dry season (June to August) and the rainy season from 196 September to March. Available station data presented an annual average of ~17-20 ºC, and 900 197 and 1500mm for temperature and rainfall respectively. The vegetation is mainly consisted of 198 grassland, a few forest reserves of Mugaba and Mushwere and woodlands scattered throughout 199 the Territory.

Sampling and selection of respondents 201
A total of 520 respondents, about 130 respondents in each Territory, were interviewed, with 202 priority given to people familiar with entomophagy based on the main objectives set. The 203 respondents therefore included adults, women and men over 18 years old and from all social classes. A structured oral interview was used on an individual basis to ensure better information 205 and to minimize external influences on the respondent's side. 206

Sources of data collected 207
Primary data were obtained from the field survey using three techniques namely questionnaire 208 administration, direct observations and insect collection. correlation tests (5%) were applied to analyze the collected data where applicable. 240

3.
Results and discussion 241

Commonly consumed edible insects in selected Territories of South-Kivu 242
A total of twenty-three edible insects including Macrotermes subhylanus, Acheta

Rhinoceros beetle
Oryctes monoceros index. In contrast, they reported a significant difference in protein digestibility, fat content and 313 lipid quality. 314

Consumer preference for edible insects 315
The inventoried edible insects were appreciated differently ( Territories than others. In addition, indigenous knowledge and processing can also influence 334 the preference of edible insect species (Obopile & Seeletso, 2013). Familiarity appears to be 335 the key driving force, allowing most respondents to react positively to all edible species in 336 terms of their willingness to eat them and thus contribute to addressing food and nutrition 337 insecurity and related issues.

Preference for edible insects 350
The plotted data (Figure 4) give an idea of the factors of appreciation for the most preferred

Seasonal availability of various inventoried edible insects 389
Regardless of Territory, three groups of edible insects, mainly A. domesticus, A. diaperinus 390 and A. melifera larvae, are abundant throughout the year (Table 3)

Harvesting and processing techniques of edible insects 490
In this study, we found that harvesting time and techniques vary according to local knowledge, 491 practices, and the insect species (Table 5) Processing methods and preservation techniques vary according to the type of edible insect and 509 the purpose, whether it is for direct consumption or for preservation. Generally, they are all 510 dried or dry-fried for preservation except for the honeybee ( Table 5)  who also pointed out that hand picking is one of the major techniques used to harvest crickets, 529 Rhinocerus beetle, stinking grasshopper (in the early hours of the morning), African palm 530 weevil (from rotting palm tree) and caterpillars, while light trapping is used to harvest termites, 531 green grasshoppers, house cricket and mole cricket. In addition, Ebenebe et al. (2017) added 532 that crickets were also harvested by digging out from the tunnels during the dry season, and 533 that house cricket were also harvested by digging out from small sound mounds with 534 depression that indicates their entrance. In contrast to the results of this study, Ebenebe et al. 535 (2017) stated that mole crickets were harvested by light trapping. Singing a "Wee wee" song 536 at the base of the host tree is another notable technique used to harvest the caterpillar of a 537 particular moth species. The more you sing, the more they fall from the top of the tree and are 538

harvested. 539
To harvest enough R. differens by light trapping during the swarming season, locals lit the 540 lamps/bulbs outside the houses and secure the areas where these lamps/bulbs are located with 541 corrugated iron sheets bent into a cone shape leading to baskets, small drums where the falling 542 R. differens are harvested (Mmari et al., 2017). For non-swarming R. Differens, harvesting is 543 done early in the morning between 6 and 7 AM, when they are inactive and not able to fly 544 are consumed raw or fried with pepper sauce. This study found that drying was the most used 559 preservation technique as it's the most widely used technology for increasing the shelf-life of foods. It ranges from traditional methods such as roasting, frying and solar drying to modern 561 methods such as freeze-drying and microwave assisted drying (Melgar-lalanne et al., 2019). 562

Conclusion and recommendations 563
The wide biodiversity of edible insects observed clearly depicts the importance of 564 entomophagy in the region. Twenty-three edible insects were recorded belonging to nine 565 families and five orders. These insects are consumed as larvae, adults or as eggs and pupa. profiling of processed and non-processed edible insects, while encouraging the rearing of 575 certain edible insects for mass production as the demand is too high. 576

Acknowledgements 577
The authors would like to thank Benjamin Kalalizi, Belanila Victoire, Rebecca Kajuru, Sandra 578 Lukausa and Tresor Buhendwa for their contribution to data collection. We also extend our 579 acknowledgements to the Université Evangélique en Afrique (UEA) and the Regional 580