The next step was to use similar methods to estimate the total number of insect species in the world at large. That, in part, involved modeling other life forms, including trees—with 1,500 species in the ACG compared to 73,000 across the planet—as well as mammals, amphibians, and Saturniidae moths. The result, the researchers concluded, was the new 20-million estimate for the number of insect species that call Earth home.
Those figures won’t hold. As Guzman observes, as habitats are lost, their inhabitants go with them. It’s humans—a single species against the millions-strong insects—who are largely responsible for that damage. We’re doing a better job than ever of counting the species with which we share the planet; we could do an equally good job of protecting them.
