Regional Numbers of Insect and Plant Species

Abstract

How do insect and plant species numbers change with respect to one another at a regional scale? Evidence for three higher insect taxa suggest that the patterns may vary substantialIy from one group to another. Estimates of the total numbers of insect species in different countries suggest that overall there may be a tendency for ratios of insect-to-plant species to be low when plant richness per unit area is high. Regional insect-to-plant ratios are very variable. For particular higher insect taxa global ratios of insect-to-plant species fall within the range of regional ratios, suggesting that regional ratios of all insects to plants may provide a means of estimating the global number of insect species