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Entomology at The Ohio State University
Insects and related terrestrial arthropods comprise over 80% of the life forms on earth.
The Class Insecta alone is suspected of containing between one and five million species at a minimum.
Biological studies on most of these are sorely lacking, and very probably fewer than half the extant
species have been named and described. Insects, by virtue of their small size and rapid reproductive
capability, are major competitors with humans for resources. These same characteristics, together with
ease of handling and breeding, make them ideal organisms for the elucidation of basic biological
principles. Insects are also extensively involved in the spread of many pathogenic microorganisms that
impact plants and animals, including humans.
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