The ethnocategory ''insect'' in the conception of the inhabitants of Tapera County, São Gonçalo dos Campos, Bahia, Brazil

Abstract

This article deals with the construction of the " insect" ethnozoological dominium by the inhabitants of Tapera County, which is located in the municipality of São Gonçalo dos Campos, Bahia State. Data were obtained from March toMay 2005 through open-ended interviews carried out with 23 men and 8 women, whose ages ranged from 6 to 66 years old. Interviewees were asked about how they perceived and defi ned the animals considered as " insects", which types they knew, and if they used them as food resource. Most of the interviews were tape-recorded, and semi-literal transcriptions are kept at the Ethnobiology Laboratoty of the Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana. Considering the ethnozoological classifi cation system of the inhabitants of Tapera, the term " insect" is a broad semantic category that brings together animals of different and not systematically related taxonomic groups. Apparently, these animals are culturally perceived and categorized as " insects" because they are usually considered as noxious, disgusting, and disease carrier creatures. True insects can be excluded from this ethnocategory due to the perception people have that such animals do not cause " injuries" or because they are useful. Perceptions toward these animals imply ambiguous behavior and feelings, which range from more positive attitudes (conservative) to more negative (destructive).

'Offensive' snakes: cultural beliefs and practices related to snakebites in a Brazilian rural settlement

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Conocimientos, actitudes y prácticas sobre la malaria en la población indígena guna de la Comarca de Madungandi, Panamá, 2012

“…Por otra parte, los trabajadores locales de salud y la comunidad informada pueden ayudar a promover el enfoque preventivo no convencional de la malaria (44). Y, una vez se conozcan los factores determinantes a nivel local, debe lanzarse la estrategia que mejor enfrente el problema de la malaria (45).…”

Selecting flagships for invertebrate conservation

“…Building upon research on public perceptions of invertebrates (Joshi et al 2000;DeFoliart 1999;Costa-Neto and Magalhães 2007;Jin and Yen 1998;Kellert 1993) we first explore people's attitudes and perceptions of different taxa to determine how butterflies compare to other potential flagship taxa. Second, we examine what physical attributes of butterflies make them appealing to different target audiences, and investigate whether species with unique features are more popular than those that are not distinctive.…”