Species census

Fascinating numbers

• The total number of known species is now nearly two million

• Among these are 1,360 species of fungi and 2,184 plants
• Seven new species of birds, 41 mammals, 120 reptiles, 148 amphibians, 314 fish, 626 crustaceans and 9,738 insects were discovered in 2009
• Of the 41 mammals, 83 per cent were either bats or rodents
• 90 per cent of the amphibians were frogs
• The species discovered represent a 5.6 per cent rise from 2008

Insects rule

• More than half of the 19,232 species discovered in 2009 were insects
• The largest group among the newly discovered insects was the beetles
• Overall, 3,485 new beetle (Coleoptera) species were officially described. These included rove beetles (568), ground beetles (421), long-horned beetles (369), leaf beetles (356) and scarabs (288)
• Wasps, ants and bees came close second with around 17 per cent of new species being added to their group

Close second

• The second largest group added in 2009 was vascular plants, totalling 2,184 or 11.3 per cent
• Almost 24 per cent of the new vascular plant species discovered in 2009 were in the Monocot order Asparagales which includes orchids, hyacinths, irises, daffodils, amaryllis, allium, aloe and asparagus
• Within the orchids family, over 30 per cent of the new species were in just three genera: Lepanthes (44), Stelis (44) and Epidendrum (43)

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