For its size, Coal Oil Point has a remarkable diversity of insects. The collection made for this project contained nearly 2000 specimens. After sorting, we found these to represent 567 species of insects, in 18 different orders. The full list of species is available as a pdf or an Excel file.

The most diverse order at the Reserve appears to be Hymenoptera (ants, wasps and bees), with 177 species found. This was surprising, as beetles (Coleoptera) are generally considered to be the largest order of insects. However, at Coal Oil Point beetles came in second, with 143 species. Diptera (true flies) were a fairly close third, with 126 species. The chart below details these results and those for other orders.

(click to enlarge)