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Title

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Description

13 illustrations of various insects such as bees, a cluster of bees, caterpillars, butterflies, etc.

ca. 1880

Artist

Anonymus

Historical Description

Insects (Insecta) are the most species-rich class of arthropods (Arthropoda) and at the same time the most species-rich class of animals. Almost one million insect species have been scientifically described to date. This means that more than 60 percent of all described animal species are insects. What all insects have in common is an exoskeleton consisting of the solidifying structural protein sclerotin and chitin as well as the anatomically mostly clearly visible division into the three sections head (caput), thorax and abdomen and the presence of exactly three pairs of legs. The exoskeleton forms the outer layer of the insect body. The insect head consists of an anterior section, where the compound eyes are located. The thorax always consists of three segments and carries the six walking legs in all insects as well as the two pairs of wings in winged insects. Insects can be found in almost all habitats on earth. One major exception is the oceans, where no insects are found. Even though the oceans are very inhospitable habitats for insects for a number of reasons, it remains an open question for science as to why not a single species has been able to adapt to life in the sea, given the very high number of insect species overall. The greatest diversity of insect species exists in tropical regions, while in extreme habitats such as the polar regions, high mountains and sea surfaces, there are only very few but highly adapted insect species.