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Insects and Biodiversity
Insects and People
Insect Characteristics
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INSECTS AND BIODIVERSITY
SHEER NUMBERS
Insects comprise the largest group of organisms
It has been estimated that there may be as many as a billion billion (1018) individual insects alive on the earth at any given moment. Insects comprise the largest group of organisms, measured either in number of individuals or number of species. Approximately eight hundred thousand (800 000) species have been identified, documented and described. However, there could be an estimated 10 million species in total. In Canada, thirty-five thousand (35 000) species have been described and in a single backyard, there may be over a thousand kinds of insects. Insects live in every conceivable habitat on land and in freshwater and a few inhabit saltwater areas.
Groups of organisms are ranked according to their relative contribution to total biodiversity. In the following diagram, their size is relative to their number of species.
1. Mammals
2. Amphibians
3. Bacteria
4. Sponges
5. Echinoderms
6. Reptiles
7. Cholenterates
8. Birds
9. Earthworms10. Roundworms
11. Flatworms
12. Fish
13. Algae
14. Protozoa
15. Fungi
16. Mollusks
17. Noninsect arthropods
18. Plants
19. Insects
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