IMPHAL, June 27:Manipur’s important edible aquatic insects found in Loktak, the largest freshwater lake in North East India, are vanishing from its natural habitat due to the ongoing degradation of the lake’s biodiversity.
To name a few are Naosek (Lethocerus indicus)- the giant water bug; Tharaikokpi (cybister)- a genus of beetle; Konjeng Kokphai (Diplonychus rusticus)- another water bug; and Long Khajing (Gerris Lacustris)- the common pond skater; and Maikhumbi (Baetidae)- a family of mayflies etc.
This came to light during a recent study of diversity of insect fauna in Loktak Lake of Manipur by Dr. M Bhubaneshwari Devi, a zoology teacher in Manipur’s premier DM College of Science, in association with senior research scholar, O Sandhyarani.
Observers felt that the disappearance of these aquatic insects from its regional habitat might give rise to direct or indirect impact on Manipur’s lake biodiversity and society in large as the people here have an age old tradition of consuming edible aquatic insects. Use of Naosek while making popular mouth watering Manipuri dish Laphu eromba (plantains stem chutney) is perhaps the best example of this not to speak of using Maikhumbi or Tharaikokpi fry etc.
“Nowadays, one can rarely find selling of Naosek bug at Rs 20 per insect in the markets close to Lake,” says Dr. Bhubaneshwari. “Naosek was abundantly available during summer not only in the markets but also in paddy fields and periphery of the lake in the past. But due to continuous use of pesticides and insecticides besides huge quantity of fertilizers the bug is slowly vanishing from its regional habitat,” she said.
According to their years long study, they found around 31 edible aquatic insects out of 100 species in Loktak. They said the cultural and traditional aspects of Manipuris would never be completed without relating to the lake, which also witnessed the whole history of Manipuri civilization. Loktak is also the home of 48 different fish species including 28 species which are available throughout the year. A fish species called as Lameithanbi (Esomus altus) found in the lake is said to be very rare and new record from India.
“We have conducted our research works by collecting necessary related datas and different species of aquatic insects from 12 sites of the Lake as people hardly studies this field of aquatic insects in our region,” she adding “due to limited time frame and resources we could not conduct further research on the biology of some of the important (specific) species for other conservation purposes.”
