Groundbreaking new research suggests the Earth harbours a minimum of between 14 and 30 million insect species – far more than the long-standing global estimate of approximately six million.
The study was carried out by an international team of experts including
Dr Robert Puschendorf , who is originally from Costa Rica but has spent the last 13 years working at the University of Plymouth.
It is based on an analysis of more than 1.6 million DNA-barcoded insects collected from Área de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG), a renowned UNESCO World Heritage Site in Costa Rica, and represents one of the most comprehensive efforts ever undertaken to document tropical insect diversity.
It combined multiple collection techniques, ecological observations, DNA barcoding, and powerful statistics with ACG estimates and they were then cross-referenced to multiple different taxa (including trees, amphibians and moths).
As a result, the researchers found that different methods consistently revealed an enormous number of cryptic species – underscoring how much biodiversity remains hidden: their conservative estimate suggests that between 93-97% of insect species remain nameless.
Beyond the striking global estimate itself, the study carries an important broader message: humanity still knows remarkably little about the vast majority of species with which we share the planet.
Dr Puschendorf, Associate Professor in Conservation Biology at the University, contributed analysis estimating the number of amphibian species in ACG, a place he has known since his childhood, and the creatures that started his personal journey into a career in conservation.
For the new study, he highlighted how populations have changed over recent decades as a result of issues such as climate change and deforestation and the need for greater research before further species are lost forever.
Dr Robert Puschendorf
