The Beetles of the World is a series of books devoted to Coleopterology.
The first book authored by Jacques Rigout was published in French Les Coléoptères du Monde in 1981 by Sciences Nat, and the book is a revision the genus Batocera.
The 500 copy volume was professionally bound but was soon out of print.
There were French specialists such as Gilbert Lachaume (Goliathini), Jean-Pierre Lacroix (Lucanidae), Patrick Bleuzen (Cerambycidae), Thierry Porion (Curculionidae), Roger-Paul Dechambre (Dynastidae), Marc Soula (Rutelinae) or Patrick Arnaud (Scarabaeidae), but also authorities from Belgium: Vincent Allard (Cetoniidae); Switzerland: Tiéry Lander (Buprestidae); Mexico: Miguel-Angel Morón (Rutelidae); Italy: Pierfranco Cavazzuti, Pietro Ratti, Achile Casale (Carabidae); and Germany: Karl Werner (Cicindelidae).
These authors also frequently published entomological articles in the journal Bulletin de la Société Sciences Nat.