A colleague once asked the great British geneticist J.B.S. Haldane, "Mr. Haldane, knowing what you do about nature, what can you tell me about God?" Haldane thought for a moment and finally replied, "He has an inordinate fondness for beetles." Haldanewas right. At least 40 percent (400,000 species) of all described insect species are beetles. Insects and other arthropods occur in nearly every habitat on earth. They make up more than 75 percent of known animal species and they far outnumber all otherforms of visible life. Worldwide, more than one million species have been identified, yet entomologists estimate the total number of species at 4 to 30 million. Incredibly, it is likely that more than 75 percent of all insect species remain undiscovered!
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