This project supported by the Darwin Initiative allowed the sponsorship of a collaborative supervision of an MSc. student registered at AUB and who determined insect species richness and diversity in different plant communities along the Lebanese coast. More than 2000 insects were compiled from monthly collections that were initiated in October 1999 and ended on August 2000. In each site, 100 sweeps were performed following four selected lines to ensure consistency between collections and minimize possible bias. Species richness, Shannon-Weaver diversity index, ad Sorensen similarity index were calculated for each order in each site.Seventy seven percent of the collected insect species belonged to the Hymenoptera (28%), Lepidoptera (11%), Diptera(19%) and Coleoptera(19%) orders. Similarity indices between sites were low. However, cluster analysis grouped insect communities from littoral habitat together, separated the least disturbed site of Naameh on its own, and grouped insect communities in Nahr l Kalb and Deyr El Nouriyeh which are experiencing ongoing agricultural activities. Total site species richness varied from 89 in Raousheh to 128 in Naameh, while H varied between 3.4 in Raousheh and 4.3 in Naameh. The study revealed a change in status of 25 Lebanese butterflies for which previous literature related to their abundance was available. Ten species have become rare whilst seven became abundant including five species known to be agricultural pests. The potential effects of these pests on the wider biodiversity need to be closely monitored while further investigations on status of butterflies could lead to their use as indicators of environmental disturbances.