Despite an ancient and well‐established use of insects in traditional medicine, our understanding of their bioactive compounds (entomochemicals) lags far behind that of medicinal plants (phytochemicals). In this review, we focus particularly on insect–plant interactions, to examine the possible dependence of the medicinal properties of insects on phytochemicals that they bioaccumulate or chemically modify. We suggest that a cross‐disciplinary approach including ethnobiology, insect ecology and phytochemistry can provide new opportunities in bioprospecting. Such opportunities lie not only in identifying medicinal entomochemicals that are based on phytochemical accumulation or modification but also on using insects as bioindicators of what plants may contain novel phytochemicals that have not yet been studied. Firstly, evidence is drawn from the international literature on the medicinal use of insects, many of which have pharmacological properties now well established in the Western scientific paradigm. Secondly, we highlight the value of a cross‐disciplinary approach to bioprospecting in an Australian context, where records of traditional Aboriginal use of medicinal insects are scant. Particularly, we explore the Aboriginal use of Lepidoptera as a case study, including witchetty grubs, hawkmoths and processionary caterpillars. We conclude that opportunities remain to connect traditional, ecological and chemical knowledge for biodiscovery, in collaboration with Indigenous communities. Ultimately, the success of any such endeavour is dependent on the successful conservation management of insect biodiversity into the future.

中文翻译：

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植物来源的药用昆虫化学药品：澳大利亚生物发现的综合方法

尽管在传统医学中对昆虫使用了古老且公认的方法，但是我们对昆虫的生物活性化合物（昆虫化学物质）的理解仍远远落后于药用植物（植物化学物质）。在这篇综述中，我们特别关注昆虫与植物的相互作用，以研究昆虫的药性对它们生物积累或化学修饰的植物化学物质的可能依赖性。我们建议，包括民族生物学，昆虫生态学和植物化学在内的跨学科方法可以为生物勘探提供新的机会。这样的机会不仅在于鉴定基于植物化学物质积累或修饰的药用昆虫化学物质，而且在于使用昆虫作为植物可能含有尚未研究的新型植物化学物质的生物指示剂。首先，证据来自于有关昆虫药用的国际文献，其中许多昆虫具有目前在西方科学范式中已确立的药理特性。其次，在澳大利亚背景下，我们强调了跨学科方法在生物勘探中的价值，因为在澳大利亚，传统上原住民使用药用昆虫的记录很少。特别地，我们以鳞翅目为例进行研究，包括鳞翅目including，鹰蛾和行进的毛毛虫。我们得出结论，与土著社区合作，仍然存在将传统的，生态和化学知识用于生物发现的机会。归根结底，任何此类努力的成功都取决于对昆虫生物多样性的成功保护管理。