title: Rapid assessment of insect fauna based on local knowledge: comparing ecological and ethnobiological methods.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The rapid assessment of biodiversity making use of surveys of local knowledge has been successful for different biological taxa. However, there are no reports on the testing of such tools for sampling insect fauna. The present study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of different ethnobiological techniques for rapid sampling of insect fauna.
  
  
  METHODS
  Field research for the conventional survey of insect fauna was conducted on a private farm (9 ° 43'38.95 "S, 37 ° 45'11.97" W) , where there was intensive cultivation of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. (Moench)). The survey of local entomological knowledge was conducted among all the producers of okra living in the rural villages Pereira, Santa Luzia, and Nassau de Souza, within the Jacaré Curituba irrigated settlement scheme. The combined use of the techniques "free list" and projective interviews was analyzed, using two types of visual stimuli: stock photos and an entomological box.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the conventional survey of insect fauna, the species Bemisia tabaci biotype B, Aphis gossypii, Phenacoccus sp., Icerya purchasi and Lagria villosa were the primary pests found in the okra crop. Regarding the survey of insect pests, the results were convergent  in both techniques (conventional sampling and free list). Comparing the interview with visual stimuli (pictures) and specimen witnesses (entomological box) revealed that the latter was more effective.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Techniques based on the recording and analysis of local knowledge about insects are effective for quick sampling of pest insects, but ineffective in sampling predator insects. The utilization of collected insects, infested branches, or photos of the symptoms of damage caused by pests in projective interviews is recommended.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Ethnobiology and Nature Conservation (PPGEtno), Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE), Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. entomologa@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Daniele Cristina de Oliveira
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pernambuco (UPE), Campus Mata Norte, Nazaré da Mata, Pernambuco, Brazil. marcelo.alves@upe.br.
authors.forename: Marcelo Alves
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology Sciences, Federal University of Alagoas, Campus Arapiraca, Arapiraca, Alagoas, Brazil. hhermenegildo@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Henrique Costa Hermenegildo
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: da Silva
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE), Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. agcalves.ufrpe@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Angelo Giuseppe Chaves
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Alves
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods*; D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D004463:Ecology / Q000379:methods*; D006430:Hemiptera; D006801:Humans; D010572:Pest Control, Biological / Q000379:methods*