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Explore a comprehensive list of insects categorized on Wikipedia, offering detailed information about various species.
Between 950,000–1,000,000 of all described animal species are considered insects, so over 50% of all described eukaryotes (1.8 million species) are insects (see illustration). With only 950,000 known non-insects, if the actual total number of insects is 5.5 million, they may represent over 80% of the total, and with only about 20,000 new ...
Pages in category "Lists of insect species" The following 200 pages are in this category, out of approximately 401 total. This list may not reflect recent changes .
Recent figures indicate that there are more than 1.4 billion insects for each human on the planet, [27] or roughly 10 19 (10 quintillion) individual living insects on the earth at any given time. [28] An article in The New York Times claimed that the world holds 300 pounds of insects for every pound of humans. [28]
In contrast, a large majority of the insect species of the tropics and the southern hemisphere are probably undescribed. [11] Some 30–40,000 species inhabit freshwater; very few insects, perhaps a hundred species, are marine. [12] Insects such as snow scorpionflies flourish in cold habitats including the Arctic and at high altitude. [13]
Many species have been recorded as breeding in natural materials or refuse such as owl pellets, bat caves, honey-combs or diseased fruit. [ 5 ] Of the approximately 174,250 lepidopteran species described until 2007, butterflies and skippers are estimated to comprise approximately 17,950, with moths making up the rest.
The largest is the dobsonfly Acanthacorydalis fruhstorferi, which can have a wingspan of up to 21.6 cm (8.5 in), making it the largest aquatic insect in the world by this measurement. [38] This species is native to China and Vietnam, and its body can be up to 10.5 cm (4.1 in) long. [39]
Additionally 1702 insect species (28% of those evaluated) are listed as data deficient, meaning there is insufficient information for a full assessment of conservation status. As these species typically have small distributions and/or populations, they are intrinsically likely to be threatened, according to the IUCN. [ 2 ]