Sévérin Tchibozo

• Researcher
• Manager at CRGB, Centre de Recherche pour la Gestion de la Biodiversité, Cotonou, Bénin

The 121 Odonata reported from Bénin are presented and illustrated. 20 species are published as new for the Benin fauna, even if some of them are already listed in ADDO web page : Lestes ochraceus, Lestes pallidus, Africallagma subtile, Agriocnemis exilis, Aeschna ephippiger, Gynacantha nigeriensis, Lestinogomphus obtusus, Paragomphus genei, Phyllog...

Urbanization, changes in landscape, migration are drivers for the transformation of food systems, declination of traditional food items often collected from the surrounding ecosystems and associated rich indigenous knowledge system (IKS).This holds true for the edible insects in African context, especially in Benin. In African rural households, edi...

For almost a decade, edible insects have become promoted on a wider basis as one way to combat world hunger and malnourishment, although attempts to do so have a longer history. Contemporary researchers and consumers, particularly those without an entomophagous background, have been rising safety and sustainability concerns. The present contributio...

We surveyed the local populations of Kétou and Pobè in Southeast Benin through interviews and with the aid of a semi-structured questionnaire in order to understand how they currently perceive entomophagy, an age-old tradition in their communities. The study revealed that the majority of the population was familiar with the use of insects as food,...

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has, among its natural resources, a large number of edible insects, which represent an advantageous food resource for local populations. We propose here to study, as a first step, the advantages and disadvantages related to the consumption of edible insects. On the other hand, we will endeavour to study the hi...

The World Social Capital Monitor 2020, a survey on eight social goods, has been conducted in 50 languages and offers results from 129 countries. 26 countries increased one or more social goods from 2019 to 2020 under Corona. The Monitor has been published as a Progress Report within the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Partnerships on O...

Entomophagy is an ancient and actually African tradition that has been receiving renewed attention since edible insects have been identified as one of the solutions to improve global nutrition. As any other foodstuff, insects should be regulated by the government to ensure product quality and consumer safety. The goal of the present paper was to as...

Wherever practiced, the tradition of entomophagy has developed into a concise set of local dos and don ts to ensure minimum risks for the consumer. However, traditions are constantly confronting their rationale as time progresses and conditions change, as may the upcoming insect farming. Surveying food law in Africa is a complex matter, be it becau...

Documented records of cetacean utilisation in West Africa (WAF) are scarce due to several limiting factors: (i) because illegal or considered illegal in most nations; (ii) no official catch statistics of cetaceans are maintained in any WAF nation; (iii) scarcity of long-term dedicated survey effort by academics or NGOs; (iv) landings at ports are o...

The historic records of ants from Benin enumerate only 22 species. Our collections, with a primary focus on the mango farm ecosystem, Mangifera indica, have brought this total to 133 species of which only six were recorded before. The Benin specimens for all but six species have been checked against type images on Antweb.org. Twenty species have be...

In order to improve data on biodiversity in the Republic of Benin in West Africa, a team of seven entomologists, including one Beninese, spent twenty one days, from 22 October to 14 November 2017, exploring some natural areas in southern Benin. All told, 207 species were collected, seven of which were recorded for the first time in Benin.

Entomophagia - the practice of eating insects - is widely practiced in many countries of the world. In Africa, where malnutrition problems are probably more acute than elsewhere, insects often occupy a prominent place in human nutrition. To safeguard and enhance this traditional knowledge at a time when humanity is increasingly in need of it, the i...

La République Démocratique du Congo (RDC) dispose, parmi ses ressources naturelles, d’un grand nombre d’espèces d’insectes comestibles, qui représentent une ressource alimentaire avantageuse pour les populations locales. Nous proposons ici d’étudier, dans un premier temps, les avantages et inconvénients liés à la consommation d’insectes comestibles...

We randomly collected butterflies to establish a list of species present in the Pendjari Biosphere Reserve and surrounding areas: 57 species have been identified.

Spiders are used in traditional medicine on all continents; however the use of tarantulas in traditional medicine has been reported on only two continents; in America and in Asia. In this work we present a synthesis of the knowledge about the use of tarantulas in traditional medicine throughout the world and new information for Mexico as well as a...

Arthropods, among which insects, are used as food for human beings for centuries. After the Asian continent Africa is second, where insects are consumed in large quantities. They are part of traditional food in many African countries. Consumptions increases currently both in rural and urban zones. For example species of the orders Coleoptera, Isopt...

Edible insects have been consumed for a long time by the inhabitants of various countries in West Africa. Data has been collected in Niger, Mali, Guinea Conakry, Burkina Faso, Benin and Togo and a number of different species recorded. Among the identified species, winged termites, crickets, locusts and caterpillars are the most commonly consumed. I...

Les insectes comestibles ont toujours fait partie du régime alimentaire de l’homme. Mais les enjeux de satisfaction des besoins alimentaires mondiaux croissants, notamment en protéines, les placent aujourd’hui au cœur des réflexions sur des alternatives agricoles plus durables. Cette piste est de plus en plus étudiée par divers organismes comme la...

Notre partenaire Séverin Tchibozo du Centre de Recherche pour la Gestion de la Biodiversité (CRGB) à Godomey au BENIN met en oeuvre une approche originale contre la malnutrition. Farine de criquets et de chenilles ébouillantées et séchées, du sorgho, du mil et d'autres ingrédients sont utilisés pour fabriquer les biscuits. L'ensemble est cuit dans...

For centuries, natural forests have enabled the Ngbakas and Komas to sustainably include insects in their diet. The migration of some people towards cities in the Central African Republic and Cameroon has introduced these foods to periurban and urban populations. A first exploratory mission among these local communities enabled to identify sixteen...

The forests worldwide play an important role as biodiversity reservoirs, as an essential component in the management of carbon intake and global change including climate and habitat degradation. The trees themselves are revenue generating products for timber or fire wood production, however within the forests the Non-timber forest products (NTFPs)...

6 espèces d’insectes sont utilisées en alimentation par les populations du Kordofan du Sud au Soudan : 5 espèces d’Orthoptères Acrididés – jusque-là jamais recensées comme alimentaires au Soudan – et un Hémiptère dont on extrait une huile utilisée en cuisine.

Introduction à la collecte, au mode de préparation et à la consommation des insectes

It is necessary to training in field small-scale agricultural producers in: - production techniques - plant protection from pests (insects, rodents, etc.) - etc.

Via the project LINCAOCNET financed by the Fonds francophone des Inforoutes and the Belgian Cooperation, information on edible insects from 10 Western and Central African Countries were collected. The results show that between 7 to 23 species are eaten in the different countries. The preferred taxa also differ largely between countries and regions....

Food security is a critical issue for many low income countries across the African continent. In areas unsuited for intensive agricultural production, local natural resources can play an important role, particularly those which are sustainable and on which people have relied on for centuries. In many regions of the world insects have been consumed...

The first record of millipedes (Diplopoda) being regularly used for food by humans (the Bobo people of Burkina Faso) is given, including information on how the millipedes are prepared. The species in question are Tymbodesmus falcatus (Karsch, 1881) and Sphenodesmus sheribongensis (Schiøtz, 1966) (Gomphodesmidae) and an unidentified species of Spiro...

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has a wide diversity in terms of forest and agricultural wild food. Several field works to inventory non-wood forest products have been carried out in the Congo Basin, yet researchers can access none or only a few of them. We have studied the edible insects of Lower Congo (Bas-Congo) that have been consume...

No published literature is available on the whales and dolphins of Benin. A first insight in the cetacean biodiversity based on stranding, capture and sighting records, as well as a preliminary assessment of status, is provided. Seven species were authenticated: humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae, common bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus, At...

The CABIN project is a five year project financed by the Belgian Cooperation, which aims to increase and enhance access to and sharing of Biodiversity information in Central Africa. During the last four years, several training sessions have been organized following the GBIF data providers program. In collaboration with the French GBIF node, the GBI...

Hosting of Mycobacterium ulcerans by water bugs is now well established and their vectoring role has been demonstrated experimentally. These findings were recently corroborated by detection of viable bacilli in the saliva of wild water bugs. However, the extent of water bug involvement in M. ulcerans ecology remains unclear and difficult to evaluat...

In Benin, insects are found in all ecosystems, whereby the species richness is greatest in the rainforest relicts in the south. The biogeographical situation is of particular interest: Benin lies in the relatively dry zone called Dahomey Gap, which is situated between the two more humid forest blocks in the East and the West. The composition of the...

More than 1700 insect species are part of the human diet in Africa, Asia and America. The worlds demand for meat consumption is increasing. It is important to look for alternative solutions and to meet the need to reduce malnutrition. Insects, which are consumed since a long time in many regions of the world, represent an important source of animal...

La conservation et la valorisation de la forêt sacrée de Kpinkonzoumé et de l’îlot forestier de Houanvè au Sud du Bénin ont été initiées avec la collaboration des communautés riveraines pour mieux préserver la biodiversité en vue de sa valorisation durable par l’écotourisme. Les différents résultats concernent : - l’inventaire, la localisation et...

Of the 311 species known to occur in western Africa, 61 (20%) are considered endemic. Many of these are widespread and therefore of least concern. Only a few endemics occupy open habitats, and of these Nesciothemis minor (LC) is most widespread, often occurring at heavily disturbed streams and rivers. Phyllomacromia amicorum (LC) is a possible ende...

Résumé. – La forêt marécageuse de Lokoli a été prospectée en 2006 pour établir un premier inventaire des Odonata, Coleoptera Cetoniidae et Lepidoptera Rhopalocera : sur 24 espèces d'Odonates recensées, 13 sont nouvelles pour le Bénin, parmi lesquelles Oxythemis phoenicosceles Ris, espèce rare, et Ceriagrion citrinum Campion, classée comme vulnérabl...

The limited information available on the status of inshore common bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus along the coasts of West Africa is reviewed. Although reported from at least ten countries, it is unclear whether their distribution is continuous. Population structure and genetics have not been studied, however cranial morphology suggests that...

Reported five species from Buthidae and two Scorpionidae. Pandinus imperator and Scorpio maurus from the Scorpionidae family. Hottentotta hottentotta, Babycurus neglectus, Butheoloides annieae, Buthus occitanus and Androctonus amoreuxi recorded in Buthidae family.

Several thousand of social bug species exist in the world. In 2005 the alone ants represent 1798 species with 87 genera and 11 sub-family. Benin is situated to the crossroads of zones of Africa of the West and Central Africa and represent a potentially rich region therefore in bugs. Yet few works are done there, the only achieved to this day on the...

The gecko fauna of Bénin is extremely poorly known, with only two species having previously been mentioned in the literature on the basis of voucher specimens. We provide evidence for the occurrence of seven additional species, bringing the national total to nine confirmed species. Another five species are known from localities to both the east and...

During October 2003, we completed an exploratory mission to some locations in the Ouémé Valley to collect insects. A total of nine species and some specimens apparently belonging to the Elmidae and Odonata were collected during the mission. ‘Dejoux et al., 1981’ confirmed that the rare or poorly known species are sparcely distributed, and it is unl...

Insects have been and still are consumed in South Benin. They are a very important source of animal protein, able to successfully substitute some meats and improve the health of badly nourished children. Various aspects are investigated: the species eaten, techniques of gathering, culinary usages, community consumption, and their economic importanc...

Accumulative indirect evidence of the epidemiology of Mycobacterium ulcerans infections causing chronic skin ulcers (i.e., Buruli ulcer disease) suggests that the development of this pathogen and its transmission to humans are related predominantly to aquatic environments. We report that snails could transitorily harbor M. ulcerans without offering...

The drugs cited in traditional pharmacopoeias all around the world are essentially plants. Animal products are less frequent; nevertheless they are not absent. For many populations, insects as well as large mammals played, and continue to play, an important role for human health; they can be used curatively or preventively, directly or indirectly t...

Dragonflies were collected at ten localities in five counties (sous-préfectures) in southern Bénin and are presently identified. A total of 73 species were found, including 45 new records for the country. The list of the odonates of Bénin currently comprises 86 species although more than 100 can probably be expected.

Dragonflies were collected at ten localities in five counties (sous-préfectures) in southern Bénin and are presently identified. A total of 73 species were found, including 45 new records for the country. The list of the odonates of Bénin currently comprises 86 species although more than 100 can probably be expected.

This study provides data on the past and present distribution of the red-bellied monkey, Cercopithecus erythrogaster erythrogaster, a subspecies that is endemic to Benin's southern ecosystems. The original distribution of this subspecies was between the Couffo River and the Nigerian border, but it has since been reduced to regions degraded by inten...

Une étude documentaire a été faite pour répertorier quelques plantes insectifuges et nématicides d'Afrique tropicale. Les différents résultats obtenus vont contribuer à l'amélioration des programmes de recherche développement et permettront une protection naturelle de nos ressources alimentaires.

Preliminary Inventory of Pests and Natural Enemies on Cotton in Oueme Department, Benin. The cotton plant is attacked by thousand of insects pests whose natural enemies are not well known in some producing countries. In order to make an inventory of pests and natural enemies, a first work has been realized on cotton entomological fauna in Oueme Dep...