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Aboriginal Peoples and Terrestrial Invertebrates in Australia : Historical and Cultural Relationships.

Explores the historical and cultural relationships Aboriginal peoples have with invertebrates.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Clarke, Philip A.
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Collingwood : CSIRO Publishing, 2026.
Subjects:
Invertebrates > Ecology > Australia.
HISTORY.
SCIENCE.
Invertebrates.
Zoology.
Life Sciences.
Biological Diversity.
Indigenous Studies.
SOCIAL SCIENCE.
Electronic books.
Table of Contents:
  • Cover
  • Half Title
  • Dedication
  • Title Page
  • Copyright
  • Foreword
  • Praise for Aboriginal Peoples and Birds in Australia by Philip A. Clarke (CSIRO Publishing, 2023)
  • Contents
  • Acknowledgments
  • Cultural sensitivity warning
  • 1: Introduction
  • Non-Aboriginal perceptions
  • The sources
  • The book
  • 2: Terrestrial invertebrate nomenclature
  • Indigenous classification systems
  • Extending terrestrial invertebrate names
  • 3: Terrestrial invertebrates as creators and spirit beings
  • Creating the world as totemic ancestors
  • Terrestrial invertebrates and spirit beings
  • Colour plates
  • 4: Foraging for wood-boring grubs
  • What are wood-boring grubs?
  • Subsistence practices
  • Grub-foraging in the south
  • Grub-foraging in the centre
  • Grub-foraging in the north
  • 5: Foraging for moths, butterflies and galls.
  • Moths, butterflies and their caterpillars
  • Galls
  • 6: Foraging for bees and ants
  • Sugarbag bees
  • Honey-ants
  • Green tree ants
  • Other ants
  • 7: Foraging for termites, lerps and other terrestrial invertebrates.
  • Termites
  • Lerp and honeydew
  • Cicadas
  • Adult beetles
  • Grasshoppers, crickets, katydids and locusts
  • Cockroaches
  • Wasps
  • Molluscs
  • Earthworms
  • Other edible terrestrial invertebrates
  • 8: Terrestrial invertebrates working for people
  • Bush intelligence
  • Preventative and medicinal treatments
  • 9: Material culture
  • Ants making glue
  • Beeswax with multiple uses
  • Termitaria, wasp nests and ant heaps as clay sources
  • Termitaria as graves
  • Termites and other insects as carvers
  • Spiderwebs for cord
  • Mollusc shells for ornaments and tools
  • Ritual objects
  • Games and amusements
  • Rock engravings and paintings
  • 10: Conclusions
  • Insights into Aboriginal culture and landscape
  • Terrestrial invertebrates as future food for Australia?
  • References
  • Index