Insects used as food and medicine are receiving increased attention. There is a need to scrutinise recent estimates of which and how many insect species are used as we have noticed inappropriate assessments and overestimations. We review the contemporary list of edible insects of the world published online by Wageningen University and compiled by Ijde Jongema since it is widely used in the literature. Each of the 2403 entries were scrutinised, including checking name validity, verifying insect usage in cited references, and categorising each entry. Our revision indicates inappropriate assessments and inclusions such as spiders (not insects) and insect products (e.g., honeydew) when the insect itself is not used. With relevant and accepted definitions, we provide a critical assessment and estimate of the number of food insects (1611) and medicinal insects (81), which is lower than Wageningen University and Jongema’s estimate of 2111 “edible insects”. We acknowledge that our critical assessment may also be an overestimate or an underestimate and deserves further scrutiny, and we encourage a more practical use of a database of food and medicinal insects with our suggestion for a querying online curated database. We conclude that making accurate estimates is a difficult feat but that inappropriate assessments can and need to be avoided.

Abstract:  Pheromone‐baited traps are used to monitor the flight of European corn borer (ECB; Ostrinia nubilalis). Traps of various designs are available: bucket traps, delta sticky traps and wire mesh cone traps. However, these traps are not all equally efficient and little is known about the reasons for this difference in efficiency. We investigated the behaviour of ECB males towards bucket traps and delta traps by means of observation in a wind tunnel. We also carried out observations and capture trials with delta traps and wire mesh cone traps in field conditions. Our laboratory studies showed that ECB males were not optimally attracted and were poorly captured by a pheromone baited bucket trap. Furthermore, they were shown to readily enter delta traps in the wind tunnel but were caught after more than three passages through this trap. Field studies showed that wire mesh cone traps captured approximately six times more ECB males than delta traps. Observation of the behaviour of ECB males showed that this difference was due to more efficient moth capture rather than greater attraction of the moth. In total, 31.5% of the 219 males observed close to wire mesh cone traps were caught, vs. 2.5% of the 520 males observed close to delta traps. This greater efficiency is due to a better capture rate of the attracted males by wire mesh cone traps than by delta traps.

Last seen in France in 1836 by Robineau-Desvoidy, the orange-headed necrophagous fly Thyreophora cynophila (Panzer, 1798) has long been considered as extinct. However, it was rediscovered in 2010 in Spain. We report its first sighting in France after a 183-year-long absence. In February 2019, four specimens were collected in southern France (Saint-Paul-de-Jarrat, Ariège), in the Pyrenees.

Collecting quantitative data on insect species occurrence and abundance is a major concern to document population trends. This is especially the case to assess the conservation status of species listed in the European Habitats Directive and to assess the efficiency of mitigation measures with a view to achieve the “no net loss of biodiversity” goal for protected species. However, at present, populations of riverine dragonflies listed in the Habitats Directive and protected under French national law are poorly quantified and monitored. Exuviae collection could be used for such monitoring but a standardised protocol is lacking. We here proposed and tested such a protocol to monitor riverine dragonfly populations through exhaustive exuviae collection along river bank transects. To define the optimal transect size and number of visits, ninety-eight 100 m-long transects divided into 10 m-long plots were monitored on three rivers in southern France. Each transect was visited three times over the emergence period. In the course of each visit, all the exuviae along transects were collected and identified. From our results, we recommend collecting exuviae along 100 m of river bank in the course of two visits in order to both maximise the species detection and minimise the monitoring cost.

Summary The iconic fly Thyreophora cynophila has long attracted the interest of entomologists but, despite its re-discovery in Spain and France, its biology is still poorly known. The larvae and puparium have been described in detail but their feeding habits on large carcasses remain largely unknown. Here, we took advantage of a carrion pile containing the remains of wild boar (Sus scrofa) and red deer (Cervus elaphus) as well as of two cow (Bos taurus) carcasses to search for T. cynophila larvae inside the bones and skulls. We document the occurrence of T. cynophila inside the cerebral cavity of dead animals, containing the brain. From the carrion pile, out of seven skulls, T. cynophila larvae could be found in five of them, and identified on the basis of their size, the shape and arrangement of the ventral tubercles, prothoracic spiracle and cephalopharyngeal skeleton. In contrast, no T. cynophila larvae could be found inside the nine bones we inspected. From the cow carcasses, no T. cynophila larvae could be found in the bones but one larva was found inside the cerebral cavity of one cow. In addition, other Diptera and Coleoptera larvae were found inside the bones.

Thyreophora cynophila (Panzer, 1798) is an iconic species of the European entomofauna. This winter-flying necrophagous fly was considered long extinct in Europe, before being discovered in Spain in 2010 and re-discovered in France in 2020, with a unique locality in Saint-Paul-de-Jarrat (Ariège, southern France). After bringing this species to the attention of people that are active in nature during the winter, including hunters, skilled naturalists, nature lovers and professional naturalists, we gathered seven new occurrence data for this species at six locations on the French flanks of the Pyrenees mountains. Those data considerably extend the known distribution of the species in Europe and allows mapping the first approximate extent of occurrence for this species in France.