You're listening to shortwave from NPR.

Maddie, Sify here with NPR Science Correspondent, Nell Greenfield Boys. Nell.

Maddie, let's just start off with this wild fact that beetles are a quarter of all animal species beetles.

Okay, that's all known animals, all known animal species. And this is a key, key distinction.

Now, there's this famous biologist named JBS Hall Day, and he was once asked what science had revealed about God.

And he said that the creator apparently had a quote, inordinate fondness for beetles. That is a famous quote.

And you know, he just noted that there are so many different kinds of beetles. I mean, it's staggering. There's around 400,000 known species.

And that's, you know, as you said, a quarter of all known animals. And new ones are being discovered all the time.

I mean, how are more people not talking about this? Now like, why did I have to turn 30 to learn this fact?

I've been reporting on science for a long time, and this one hit me too. And I don't know what to tell you.

I just, you know, I came across this fact and I was kind of staggered by it. And my initial reaction was,

let me understand why it is that beetles are so uniquely diverse. And then I realized, oh, this story actually is a little different than I thought.

So today on the show, the amazing biodiversity of beetles. And the other animal, giving beetles, a run for their money for the title of most diverse critter.

You're listening to shortwave, a daily science podcast about beetles from NPR.

That's smooth. Did anybody notice? The show just become about beetles?

Part one of our 400,000 part series. Get ready for more beetles programming.

Okay. Now beetles, tell me everything we have 13 minutes.

All right. Well, you think you know what a beetle is and you basically do.

You've seen them. It's just an insect with a hard wing case. And you know, there's all kinds as we've noted.

There's ladybugs and scarabs. You know, there's Egyptian ones. There's stag beetles with their, you know, big jaw like things.

I love those jewel beetles that are really pretty and colorful. There's warlike beetles. I mean, you could just go on and on and on and on.

Don't even get me started on weevils. The beetles known as weevils. Don't even get me started on weevils.

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