This week in science: California wolves, the world's bugs, and the earliest quasars
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DETROW: I love myself a good big scientific mystery. Which one was this?

BARBER: So scientists wanted to know how many species of insects existed on the entire planet. And the best estimate to this point, based on studies of beetles, is that there are roughly 6 million.

ROTT: And for perspective, Scott, even the most generous estimates of how many bird species there are on the planet suggest only about 20,000.

DETROW: OK, so it's more than 6 million, I'm assuming is where this is heading.

(LAUGHTER)

ROTT: Yes. So this new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that that 6 million number - you are right, Scott - is a huge undercount.

DETROW: How many insect species are there on Earth?

BARBER: Yeah, between 14 and 20 million at minimum, so up to three times as many species as previously believed. Here's Melissa again.

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