Plot twist: We're probably way undercounting insects on Earth

Short Wave

NPR

Nature, Daily News, Science, Life Sciences, News, Astronomy

4.7 • 6.6K Ratings

🗓️ 10 July 2026

⏱️ 9 minutes

🔗️ Recording | Apple Podcasts | RSS

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Summary

Maybe you’ve wondered about it late at night as a mosquito buzzes in your ear. Or when you kick over a rock and watch dozens of little critters crawl away: How many types of insects are there in the world? Scientists have been interested in answering this question for years. A new study — based on a census of tiny and, frankly terrifying, parasitoid wasps — suggests there’s way more than previously thought. Like, millions more that are just waiting to be discovered.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.
0:05.9	Hey, Joe Waver, is Regina Barber here.
0:08.1	And Nate Rutt.
0:09.3	With our biweekly science news roundup featuring fellow space nerd, Scott Detrow, of all things considered.
0:14.6	Hey, Scott.
0:15.2	I am slumming it here today talking in an episode that contains non-space news, but I'm doing that for you.
0:22.3	Excellent.
0:23.2	We're going to talk more about space next week, too.
0:25.3	But this week, we've got a few mysteries unraveling.
0:28.9	First up, how many different types of insects are there on the planet?
0:32.6	Scott, do you have a guess?
0:34.0	Like, overall raw total or like species?
0:37.4	Species.
0:38.1	Okay.
0:38.5	I don't know. Four million. I don't know. I don't know. A lot. Well, you didn't go over. I'll give you that. We're going to tell you. Quick side question, just because I'm a nerd. Do either of you guys have a favorite insect? Yes. What's yours? It's a firefly because I never saw them on the West Coast until I moved to the East Coast.
0:56.9	I was going to say Firefly. Oh, we're the same. We're the same. Let's get Firefly tattoos. I was literally looking up during the Fourth of July and I was looking at all the stars. We were out away from City Lights and I saw the stars and I saw fireflies in the trees.
1:11.0	It was so cool.
1:12.4	What a win.
1:13.2	I know.
1:13.9	Speaking of astronomy, you know, see, that was my segue.
1:17.1	We have another story that looks at quasars, bright lights from ancient galaxies.
1:22.5	So these are really, really old fireflies that can tell us more about the formation of the universe.
	...

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