ABSTRACT

The medical use of insects and insect-derived products is known as entomotherapy. Although entomotherapy has been practiced for many millennia, it is little known in the scientific world. Folk medicine is a complex of empirical data accumulated by people concerning therapeutic agents as well as therapeutic and hygienic skills for diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases. Insects are an important source of medicinal agents for modern medicine, as they possess immunological, anesthetic, bactericidal, diuretic, and antiarthritic properties. A method of maggot therapy is based on feeding of maggots of blowflies on necrotic tissues. One more important aspect of the medical use of insects is venom therapy; that is, treatment of diseases with the aid of insect venoms. The bee is also considered to be the most important insect in the cosmetics industry. Honey and other products of beekeeping were applied as cosmetics as early as the Stone Age. In the state of Bahia, common houseflies are used for cosmetic purposes.