Three Edible Odonata Species and Their Nutritive Value

Dragonflise are common insects distributed widely.Parts of their larvae are edible.The research results showed that there is custom of eating dragonfly larvae in many places of Yunnan.The common edible species are Crocothemis servilia,Gomphus cuneatus and Lestes praemorsa.The larvae contain protein,fat,amino acids and microelements.The average contents of protein,fat and amino acids are 58.92%,25.37% and 46.03% respectively.The content of 8 kinds amino acids necessary for human body is 16.41% in average,which accounts for 35.69% of the total amount of amino acids.The content of potassium,zinc,calciun and ferrum are 2 960 mg·kg-1,125 4 mg·kg-1,2 616 9 mg·kg-1 and 796 2 mg·kg-1.Therefore the dragonfly larva is one of nutritive edible insect resources.