This special volume contains 21 papers on the invertebrates of Bonaire, and some other Dutch Caribbean islands. Most papers are based on material collected during the Bonaire Estafette Expeditie held in 2022-2023. In this introduction we give background information on the climate, geography and habitats of Bonaire and other Dutch Caribbean islands. We present information on the current state of knowledge on the terrestrial invertebrates of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao and give a description of the Bonaire Estafette Expeditie.