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A brief chronological review of the main studies on mexican arthropod species and a list of the most important current sources of information is given. The knowledge about the arthropod fauna of Mexico is evaluated by using the information summarized by the authors of this book. 23 000 known species from seven orders of Arachnida, one order of Crustacea and 14 orders of Insecta, are reported; authors estimate that the real number of species from these groups is 37 000. The number of species living in Mexico is equivalent, on average, to 8.3% of the world species (10.3% if we use the estimated number of species) of each taxon. Authors report 5 592 known endemic species from 20 taxa; in 14 taxa, endemics represent more than 20% of the total species living in Mexico. Data on threatened species and the geographic distribution of species richness are summarized. Estimations of the total number of species living in Mexico vary, depending on the assumptions made, between 300 000 and 700 000. Finally, some of the challenges of the study of arthropod diversity in Mexico are discussed.