%0 Journal Article
%T Defoliator Pest to Caboclos and Gourmet Food to the Suru¨ª Indians: Contrasting Amazonian Perspectives of Lusura sp. Caterpillars
%A Carlos E. A. Coimbra
%A Jr.
%J Ethnobiology Letters
%D 2012
%I Society of Ethnobiology
%X The use of a Lusura sp. (Lepidoptera: Notodontidae) caterpillar as food by the Suru¨ª Indians from the southwestern Brazilian Amazon is reported in the context of family collecting excursions during arboreal infestations observed in July-August 1983. This caterpillar erupts in very large numbers on Brazil nut trees, denuding them of foliage. The paper calls attention to contrasting views about these caterpillar infestations among different inhabitants of the forest, being considered a desirable food delicacy by the Suru¨ª and a destructive pest defoliator by caboclos.
%K Amazonia
%K indigenous peoples
%K Brazil nut tree
%K insects as food
%K ethnoentomology
%U http://ethnobiology.org/sites/default/files/publications/ebl/pdfs/defoliator_pest_to_caboclos_and_gourmet_food_to_the_surui_indians_carlos_coimbra_ethnobiology_letters_0.pdf