Abstract In most human societies, the term 'insect' denotes a category that includes organisms other than those of the Linnaean class Insecta, such as bats, snakes, toads, spiders, lizards, scorpions, and slugs. Such a pattern of ethnozoological classification occurs because human beings tend to project feelings of noisomeness, danger, disgust, and disdain toward some non-insect animals (including people) by allocating them to the culturally determined category 'insect'. Metaphors related to this lexeme highlight the negative aspects that are normally associated with real or imaginary perceptions of 'insects'. This article briefly discusses this cultural pattern. It is suggested that researchers who carry out inventories of biological diversity should take into account the ethnocategory 'insect' during their studies, especially if they are collaborating with members of traditional communities. Categories are linguistic constructs which enable a culture to give some order to its universe, organize collective perceptions, and bear out relationships between beings and phenomena. (Greene 1995) Introduction The way people perceive, identify, categorize, and classify the natural world intervenes in the way they think, act, and feel in relation to animals. Cross-culturally, humans perceive and group as 'insects' members of the scientific class Insecta and non-insect animals by transferring qualities associated with cultural constructions of the category 'insect.' This lexeme is often used to designate an ethnocategory that includes organisms such as rats, bats, lizards, snakes, toads, vultures, mollusks, earthworms, scorpions, and spiders, among others (Brown 1979, Posey 1983, Laurent 1995). In Greene's conception (1995), 'insects' can be seen as a representational category since they become metaphorical realizations of other beings or their qualities. For example, the Mofu people of northern Cameroon project their own social and political behaviors upon in their environment, especially the ants and termites. There is a type of ant known as jaglavak that is considered to be the Prince of the (Seignobos et al. 1996). In another example, Suva (1998) has found that of 264 animals that appear in popular expressions, about ten percent were insects. In general, human beings demonstrate attitudes and feelings of disdain, fear, and aversion toward invertebrates and 'insect'-like animals. According to folk perception, insects are everything that are useless (Dias 1999). That's why 'insects' are commonly killed. Ramos-Elorduy (1998) has claimed that negative stereotypes of (Linnaean category) can be traced to prejudiced attitudes that associate with aboriginal people. More positive attitudes towards invertebrates can be found when these animals possess esthetic, utilitarian, ecological or recreational values (Kellert 1993). Different reasons for a consistent human aversion towards and other invertebrates can be found in the literature (Kellert 1993). One of these has raised the hypothesis of an innate fear of potentially dangerous insects, which was generalized to include other invertebrates. Another explanation is the association of invertebrates to illnesses and human habitation. A third suggests human alienation to creatures so different and distinct from our own species. To Laurent (1995), the general shape, the morpho-ethological aspects, and the negative sensations attributed to the animals are reasons that explain man's aversion to the invertebrates, particularly to the insects. However, the reasons for which animals other than are also named as such have not been recorded in a systematic way. Categorization of animals from different scientific taxa using a single linguistic label constitutes a pattern of ethnozoological classification discussed by Costa-Neto (1999) through the Entomoprojective Ambivalence Hypothesis. Humans tend to project feelings of harmfulness, danger, irritability, repugnance, and disdain toward non-insect animals (including people) by associating them with the culturally defined category 'insect. …