Insect biodiversity

Earth's myriad life forms comprise an intricate web of life that has been in existence for more than 3 billion years of evolutionary change. Every component of the biological diversity including the insects, is unique in its own way and has an important ecological role in the survival of life on Earth. To date, the generally quoted figure for described species is 1.4 million, of which 1.1 million are animals and three quarter of those are insects. Insects as agreed by many biologists are by far the most diverse groups of animals on Earth. They are thus important contributors to biodiversity. Insects in the Tropics, especially those thriving in the lush tropical rainforests, are the least studied. The traditional estimate for living species is roughly three times the number currently described, around 3-5 million (Berry, 1992). However, with the exploration of the Peruvian Amazon rain forest canopy ecosystem made by Terry

L. Erwin and his associates, the traditional estimate has been challenged and the upper limit has been moved much higher. When estimates of local diversity were extrapolated to include all rain forests in the world, a figure of 30 million species was obtained, of which mostly are insects (Erwin, 1982). Scientific knowledge about tropical ecosystems remains extremely incomplete. Scientists estimated at least three quarter of the tropical species still await discovery and naming, and the actual numbers may well be significantly higher.

Insect great diversity is indeed an intrinsic part of the Earth's ecosystems. They are what make the ecosystems tick remarked Samways (1994). Yet the study on these major and crucial component of our biodiversity has received minimal attention from the scientific community at large. In the rich tropics, a huge percentage of insects are yet to be discovered and identified. As years passed, some have been driven to extinction without ever being known to science. Accurate identification of these organisms is thus fundamental to all subsequent studies.

In Malaysia, as in any other developing countries, efforts to identify components of biodiversity for conservation and sustainable use have not kept pace with the country's rapid development and industrial growth. To date, so few organisms have been named and their distributions recorded that the magnitude of the task is simply enormous. It is indeed a major undertaking and a race against time. Much of our biodiversity is irreversibly lost through extinction caused by the destruction of natural habitats. If this destruction continues at its present rate, human welfare and well being will be in misery, both in the tropical countries and throughout the world.