African Arthropods/Insects

There are 27 orders of insects. Scientific estimates have been made of the number of species in the different orders, but how common are they in terms of numbers of organisms or biomass? This is more difficult to measure, and there are many scientists asking this question, especially now that there is evidence of a world-wide decline in insect biomass. See also: The collapse of insects: The most diverse group of organisms on the planet are in trouble, with recent research suggesting insect populations are declining at an unprecedented rate.

From an informal learning point of view, however, the number of records (in iNaturalist) of organisms from each group gives an indication of how often people with cameras interact with that group. The table below gives a breakdown of the numbers of African records on iNaturalist for the different orders of insects. The table is interactive - one can sort the table so that it reflects the taxonomic order (based on the Wikipedia page for insects) by clicking on the column heading; the first two columns can be sorted alphabetically.

Iziko museum has a table of insect Orders on their biodiversity explorer site for southern Africa

Insect orders, showing the number of African records on iNaturalist on 25 July 2022

Order	Common names	Number of iNaturalist records	Taxonomic order	Images
Lepidoptera	Butterflies and Moths	226821	23 Amphiesmenoptera
Coleoptera	Beetles	81584	19 Coleopterida
Hymenoptera	Ants, Bees, Wasps, and Sawflies	55752	17 Hymenopterida
Hemiptera	True Bugs, Hoppers, Aphids, and Allies	41874	15 Acercaria
Diptera	Flies	38453	25 Antliophora
Odonata	Dragonflies and Damselflies	36623	3 Odonatoptera
Orthoptera	Grasshoppers, Crickets, and Katydids	34887	8 Orthoptera
Mantodea	Mantises	10403	9 Dictyoptera
Blattodea	Cockroaches and Termites	9138	10 Dictyoptera
Neuroptera	Antlions, Lacewings, and Allies	5318	21 Neuropterida
Phasmida	Stick Insects	1845	12 Eukinolabia
Dermaptera	Earwigs	756	6 Haplocercata
Ephemeroptera	Mayflies	719	4 Panephemeroptera
Thysanoptera	Thrips	477	16 Acercaria
Zygentoma	Silverfishes	451	2 Basal
Trichoptera	Caddisflies	425	24 Amphiesmenoptera
Psocodea	Barklice, Booklice, and Parasitic Lice	326	14 Acercaria
Archaeognatha	Bristletails	109	1 Basal
Embiidina	Webspinners	100	13 Eukinolabia
Plecoptera	Stoneflies	60	7 Plecoptera
Megaloptera	Alderflies, Dobsonflies, and Fishflies	41	22 Neuropterida
Mecoptera	Hangingflies, Scorpionflies, and Allies	40	26 Antliophora
Siphonaptera	Fleas	29	27 Antliophora
Notoptera	Heelwalkers and Ice Crawlers	16	11 Notoptera
Strepsiptera	Twisted-wing Insects	7	18 Coleopterida
Raphidioptera	Snakeflies	1	20 Neuropterida
Zoraptera	Angel Insects	0	5 Haplocercata

Order Raphidioptera (snakeflies) is rare in Africa; Snakeflies are probably limited to a few countries on the Mediterranean Sea. iNaturalist has only one African record; that is from Morocco.
Order Zoraptera (angel insects) are widespread worldwide, but are rarely recorded. There are no African records of angel insects on iNaturalist, but GBIF shows a record from Ethiopia.

Mapping Insect biodiversity in Africa

The Biodiversity and Development Institute (BDI) and The FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology run a citizen science programme called the Virtual Museum - this includes these projects:

• 
  Atlas of Dung Beetles in southern Africa
• 
  Atlas of African Neuroptera and Megaloptera
• 
  Atlas of African Lepidoptera
• 
  Odonata Atlas of Africa