The entomofauna of Réunion

An entomofauna still very incompletely and heterogeneously known

About 3000 species of insects recorded ...

In Réunion, we currently know about 3000 species of insects and 200 species of spiders: 1150 species of Coleoptera, 40% of which are endemic to Réunion or Mascarenes, more than 650 species of butterflies and moths, one third of which is endemic, 23 species of dragonflies (two endemic), five species of stick insects (four endemic), more than 50 species of crickets and Grasshoppers (50% endemic), around 200 species of true bugs…




... and twice more to discover

This knowledge has grown significantly over the past 15 years, for example, increasing the number of known Coleoptera species from 840 to 1150 species, but still remain very heterogeneous depending on the taxawe still know only a few Hymenoptera, very few Diptera, and practically nothing of the Myriapods. So we estimate that there are still twice as many species to be discovered than we currently know.




Class Order Sub-group Known species Estimate
Insecta

 3000 sp.   7000-10000 sp.

Coleoptera
1150 sp. 2000-3000 sp.

Lepidoptera
650 sp. 750 sp.

Diptera
250 sp. -

Hymenoptera
360 sp. 600 sp.


Formicidae 50 sp.


Ichneumonidae 65 sp.

Hemiptera
350 sp. 600 sp.


Heteroptera 150-220 sp. 300 sp.


Auchenorrhyncha 120 sp.
 150 sp.


Sternorrhyncha -
 150 sp.

Odonata
23 sp. 23 sp.

Orthoptera
60-80 sp.
 100 sp.

Psocoptera
33 sp.

Thysanoptera
45 sp.

Trichoptera
14 sp.

Blattodea Blattodea 22 sp. 30 sp.

Blattodea Isoptera 12 sp. 12 sp.

Phasmatodea
5 sp.
 5 sp.
Arachnida

340 sp. >1000 sp.

Aranea
200 sp. 400 sp.

Acari
136 sp.
 400 sp.

Scorpiones
3 sp. 3 sp.

Opiliones
5 sp.

Amblypygi
2 sp.
Crustacea Malacostraca

37 sp.

Isopoda
16 sp. 20 sp.

Amphipoda
1 sp.

Decapoda
  35 sp.
  
Myriapoda Chilopoda

<10 sp.
Myriapoda Diplopoda

<10 sp.

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Some books on insects from Réunion [in French]

Ribes S. (Ed.) (2005) Les Insectes. Biodiversité de La Réunion. MHN Réunion. 96 pages.
Out of print »

Quilici S., Vincenot D. & Franck A. (2003) Les auxiliaires des cultures fruitières. CIRAD Ed.. 168 pages.
Publisher's website »


Martiré D. & Rochat J. (2009) Les papillons de La Réunion et leurs chenilles. Biotope Ed. / MNHN. 496 pages.
Publisher's website »


Martiré D. (2010) Les Libellules et Éphémères de La Réunion. Biotope Ed. / MNHN. 72 pages.
Publisher's website »


Martiré D. (2013) 80 animaux endémiques de La Réunion. Éd. Orphie. 176 pages.
Publisher's website »


Martiré D. (2017) 100 animaux indigènes et exotiques de La Réunion. Éd. Orphie. 168 pages.
Publisher's website »


Martiré D. (2015) Le grand livre des plus beaux insectes de La Réunion. Éd. Orphie. 319 pages.
Publisher's website »


Gomy Y., Lemagnen R. & Poussereau J. (coord.) (2016) Les Coléoptères de l'île de La Réunion. Éd. Orphie. 759 pages.
Publisher's website »


Poussereau J., Coutanceau J.P., Nicolas V. & Gomy Y. (2018) Les Coccinelles de La Réunion. Éd. Orphie. 222 pages.
Publisher's website »


Lacroix M. & Poussereau J. (2019) Les Scarabéidés de l'île de La Réunion. Éd. Orphie. 384 pages.
Publisher's website »


Ferrer J. & Poussereau J. (2019) Les Ténébrionidés de l'île de La Réunion. Éd. Orphie. 224 pages.
Publisher's website »


Martiré D. & Armynot J. (2019) Les Papillons diurnes de La Réunion. Éd. Orphie. 127 pages.
Publisher's website »



Clothing collection "Wear your biodiversity"

Creation Atelier TLJ (2019) Sheet dress - Psyllobora.
Creator's website »

Creation Atelier TLJ (2019) Bardot dress - Utetheisa.


Creation Atelier TLJ (2019) Jacket Oversize - Trigonodes.


Creation Atelier TLJ (2019) Shirt dress - Graptostethus S.
Online store »