What is the most diverse group of organisms?

[Ann]

LOL! There are lots of marine organisms, that's for sure. Of the ones you mentioned diatoms and cnidarians are my personal favorites, but that's mainly because they are so beautiful! There are alot of them, too, but I'm not sure anything can beat the insects as far as diversity! They live everywhere, terrestrial and marine, and multiply like nobody's business! To narrow it further, I seem to remember beetles being the most speciose, but I could be mistaken.

[Sam]

The most diverse terrestrial animal group is definitely the insects within which the beetles are the most diverse. Not sure if they beat the marine groups as well though...

[Sam]

Awesome, Beetle week here we come :-)

[M]

Astonishing! Beetles' species for a week at The Green group :-)
Art and Science, as well...



Beetles are classified in the order " Coleoptera " - This name was given by Aristotle

[image error]

Animals were highly symbolic figures in Egyptian art. Scarab Beetles is the most important amulet in Ancient Egypt.

[Lorne]

Melissa wrote: "So everyone help me out here. I'm not sure off the top of my head what groups are the most diverse? Excluding bacteria which are likely huge.

Go with your knowledge of taxonomy, or groups howe..."


In terms of numbers of species per Order, I think you've got it: Coleoptera (beetles), Hymenoptera (bees/wasps), Diptera (flies), Lepidoptera (butterfies/moths).

[Ken-ichi]

If the charts here are correct, hymenopterans and dipterans are pretty even in terms of species.

And you can't hate all ants! Check out http://www.antweb.org and http://myrmician.wordpress.com/2009/0...

[Lorne]

I knew an insect museum curator once who believed that the hymenoptera (ants included) were even more diverse than coleoptera (beetles), it was just that there were so many tiny ones that no one had yet classified them.
l

[Ken-ichi]

Well, red velvet ants actually aren't ants. They're wasps in the family Mutillidae (females are wingless). Your ant prejudice remains unconditional.

[Bramble]

... what groups are the most diverse? ..."

The race is on among the insects! Coleoptera are in the lead because they're shiny. Flies and wasps are gaining in the stretch, with microlepidoptera as dark horse. (Flies have cryptic species -- squash their heads and compare the polytene chromosomes; there are lots of undescribed parasitoids, both flies and wasps - I have some in my office; and the microleps? Well.)

I think every insect that's been looked at supports at least one specialist fungus. Same with most other animals. Certainly every plant. And don't get Melissa started on the lichens...

Every leaf that falls on the ground is the scene of a competitive race between species of fungi, many of which have been there since the leaf was formed. Waiting. Waiting for the leaf to die so they can get a head start. (Search endophyte). A strong case can be made for fungi as the most diverse group.

Ain't life grand?

[M]

Ken-ichi wrote: "If the charts here are correct, hymenopterans and dipterans are pretty even in terms of species.

And you can't hate all ants! Check out http://www.antweb.org and http://myrmician.wordpress.com/20..."

The "antsweb's " link is awesome, Ken-ichi ! Thanks for the charts, too.
Although I have read, learn about ants with Bernard Werber's book Empire of the Ants I can't hate all of them. In the documentary " Microcosmos " you could see some incredible habits of ants.