Fieldwork was carried out in the village of Pedra Branca, which is located in the East region of Bahia State, northeastern Brazil. This settlement belongs to the municipality of Santa Terezinha, and it is about 13 km away from it. It is situated 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 12°46' South and 39°32' West [27].
Data were obtained from February to June 2005 by means of open-ended interviews using the pattern techniques of the ethnographical research focused on the cognitive anthropology [28]. An Open and Clarified Consent Term was elaborated based on the National Health Council Resolution number 196/1996, which rules the ethical aspects of the research involving human beings. It was read to the villagers and distributed among those who participated in the study. Thirty people of both genders whose ages ranged from 13 to 86 years old were interviewed. Local inhabitants are mainly small farmers and most of them have an Afro-Brazilian origin. The main objectives of the research were explained clearly in the beginning of each new interview and people were asked if they wanted to participate. The researcher maintained a visual contact with the interviewees using a micro tape-recorder; semi-literal transcriptions are kept at the Laboratory of Ethnobiology of the Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana (UEFS).
Glass jars filled with alcohol 70% were left in some residencies in order to get some bird-spider species from the area and to make a survey about the collected specimens. Projective tests were possible thanks to these collections, when people were inquired about the content and the common names, the local impressions on the animals, and their uses were noted down. Some specimens of spiders were identified by Dr. Paulo César Motta from the Biology Institute of Universidade de Brasília. They were deposited at the Arachnida Collection: Lasiodora cf. paraybana (DZUB 3563), Aviculariinae (DZUB 3564) – both Theraphosidae, and Ctenus sp. (DZUB 3565), a Ctenidae.
Data were analyzed using the union model, which involves considering all available information on the surveyed subject [29]. Controls were carried out both through consistency checking tests and reply validity tests, which make use of repeated inquiries in synchronic and diachronic conditions, respectively [29]. The former occurred when the same question was asked to different people in very close times; the latter occurred when the same question was asked to the same person in different moments.
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