Threatened arthropods and described. The total number of living arthropod species is probably in the tens of millions. One conservative estimate puts the number of arthropod species in tropical forests alone at six to nine million species. As a consequence of all of the above, most published estimates of the total number of endangered insects and arachnids are probably low by at least an order of magnitude. Conservatively at least eighty percent of all living animal species are arthropods. Since arthropods constitute the majority of the faunal biomass on Earth, their role is vital to the survival of large numbers of insectivores
Structures built by animals amphibians, molluscs, urochordates, crustaceans, annelids and some other arthropods. It is virtually absent from all the other animal phyla. Animals create structures primarily for three reasons: Animals primarily build habitat for protection from extreme temperatures and from predation. Constructed structures raise physical problems which need to be resolved, such as humidity control or ventilation, which increases the complexity of the structure. Over time, through evolution, animals use shelters for other purposes such as reproduction, food storage, etc. Predators are attracted to animal-built structures either by the prey or its offspring, or the stored caches of food. Structures built by animals