Data presented here are part of a broader research project that aims to record the ethnoentomology of Pedra Branca's villagers. A former settlement of the Kiriri Indians that was established by the Portuguese pioneer Gabriel Soares de Souza in the sixteenth century, the village of Pedra Branca is situated at the Middle Paraguaçu, west central region of Bahia State, northeastern Brazil (Paraíso 1985). (The Kiriri people do not live there anymore.) It is inside the municipality of Santa Terezinha (which is also the capital), but it is about 13 km away from it. This village is located at the base of the Serra da Jibóia, a mountain range of about 225 km2 of area whose peak elevation is 805 m above sea level. It lies between 12º46¢ south latitude and 39º32¢ west longitude (Juncá et al. 1999).
In 1991, the resident population in the municipal area of Santa Terezinha was 8,851 individuals (Centro de Estatística e Informação 1994). The population in the district of Pedra Branca in 1991 was nearly 400 persons (about 80 families according to the local Health Assistant), who depend on cultivation of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) as their main economic activity. Livestock production is also important, mainly cattle and goats.
This region, which is totally included in the Drought Polygon, has a semi-arid climate with a mean annual temperature of 24.3ºC and a mean annual rainfall of 582 mm. The rainy period lasts from November to January. The vegetation of the Serra da Jibóia includes campo rupestre savannas on the peaks; dense, ombrophilous Atlantic coastal forest in the valleys and on the slopes; semi-deciduous forest at the base; and arboreal Caatinga in the north. The soil is good for agricultural activities and suitable for livestock-raising (Centro de Estatística e Informação 1994).
Fieldwork was carried out over 64 days from February to May 2001. Open-ended interviews followed ethnoscientific principles by recording information on an emic approach (Sturtevant 1964). By using this kind of approach, ethnobiologists record the native's knowledge in just the way the local culture organizes, perceives, and uses its universe, not by imposing a Western understanding (Posey 1986). Nine men and twenty-five women, whose ages ranged from 19 to 82 years old, constituted the sample universe. Interviews were conducted in Portuguese since the villagers are Portuguese-speakers. Most of the interviews were recorded in microtapes; semi-literal transcriptions are deposited at the Laboratory of Ethnobiology of the Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana (UEFS).
Data were analyzed qualitatively by considering all available information that informants have provided on the surveyed subject. Controls were performed both through consistency checking tests and reply validity tests, which make use of repeated inquiries in synchronic and diachronic conditions, respectively. One tests consistency by asking different people the same question within a very short time period. Reply validity is tested by asking the same question to the same interviewee at different times.
During the fieldwork projective tests were also conducted. These consisted in displaying both the photographs and the recent captured specimens themselves to the informants in order to promptthem to talk about the insects. Some specimens were collected and handled in accordance with the usual patterns for scientific collections, and were deposited in the entomological collection at UEFS.
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