Scarabaeidae) at nearly every opportunity. In such cases, the larvae were usually placed on the coals of a fire for a brief time until they ‘‘straighten out’’ and are ‘‘cooked.’’ Hope (1842) reported that Anoplognathus viridaeneus (Donovan) (Rutelinae) was eaten by aboriginals in northern Australia. The use of insects as totems is known only from certain groups in central Australia who placed special significance on the larvae of a small scarab (uchalka) and a longhorn beetle (Cerambycidae; idnimita). Spencer (1928) observed that the totem animal was eaten as part of the ceremonies involving a fertility rite. If the totem animal was not eaten there was a danger that the insect would not subsequently occur in sufficient numbers to be utilized as a source of food. In New Guinea, Miklucho-Maclay (1875) noted that all insects, especially big beetles, were eaten raw or cooked by the Papuans. Many of New Guinea’s large beetles are scarabs or longhorn beetles. The Chuave, part of the Chimbu people who live in the Central Highlands of New Guinea, eagerly sought out all animals for food, including the wood boring and root feeding larvae of scarabs. The Onabasulu, inhabiting an area north of Mt. Bosavi, ate rhinoceros beetles as well as the larvae of Oryctes centaurus Sternberg (Dynastinae) (Meyer-Rochow 1973). Bernatzik (1936) recorded that larvae of Oryctes rhinoceros were highly prized as a food item by the people of Owa Raha in the Solomon Islands. The Kiriwinians, a Melanesian people inhabiting the Trobriand Islands, ate a variety of insects, including the larvae of the rhinoceros beetle, Scapanes sp. (Dynastinae) (Meyer-Rochow 1973). North America The Indians of North America were familiar with a variety of different insects, including scarab beetles. Each tribe had its own names for these insects, and a brief example of the linguistic component of culture is given below for the Navajo of the Southwest. North American Indians largely ignored insects as food (Hitchcock 1962), medicine, or in ceremonies. A perusal of various volumes of the Handbook of North American Indians (Heizer 1978; Trigger 1978; Ortiz 1979; d’Azevedo 1986) consistently shows no references to scarabs, beetles, or even insects. Perhaps this is correlated with the greater and/or consistent availability of animal protein found in shellfish, fish, birds, and mammals. Cherry (1993), citing Clausen (1954), related one myth of the Cherokee of the southeastern United States, where the behavior of the larvae of the green June beetle (Cotinis nitida [L.]; Cetoniinae) is explained. The Cotinis grub, acting as the Chief of a council meeting, became so amused at a suggestion that he fell over backward with laughter. When he tried to get to his feet, he could not and so had to crawl away on his back. And that is the reason why, today, larvae of C. nitida, unlike other scarabs, are known to move on their backs. Native methods of ‘‘naming’’ organisms are of considerable interest to the ethnobiologist because they provide some insights about the evolution of classification systems. Hitchcock (1962) observed that individual species of insects were not often distinguished by Indians in general, and that the generic term for insects sometimes included other diverse groups of animals. This was in sharp contrast to the skill with which Indians distinguished between closely related forms of mammals. Generally, the more uses an Indian group made of insects, the greater number of names they had for the different types. In studies conducted by Wyman and Bailey (1964), 701 valid Navajo names were obtained from the 1,027 species of insects represented in an identified reference collection. Among 204 species of beetles present, 87% were given specific names, and 94 COLEOPTERISTS SOCIETY MONOGRAPH NUMBER 5, 2006