238 THE HAUNTS OF LIFE 



respiration, which would raise the pitch of the 

 insect's life. 



WHY ARE THERE SO MANY INSECTS? 



Many naturalists estimate the number of 

 different kinds of living backboned animals 

 named and known at about 25,000. But of 

 named and known backboneless animals there 

 are ten times as many, and the most of these 

 are insects ! But some authorities on insects 

 insist that this computation is far too moderate. 

 They point out that, on the average, 6000 new 

 insects are discovered every year, and insist 

 that the total number of different kinds now 

 living on the earth must be put at over 

 2,000,000. As one of the experts says : "One 

 fact remains certain namely, that the number 

 of species of insects is at least six times that 

 of all the other animals put together." And 

 besides the prodigious number of different 

 kinds of insects, there is the colossal number of 

 individuals that often represent a particular 

 species at one time. Why are there so many 

 insects ? 



The first part of the answer is that most 

 insects have the power of true flight, which 



