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Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics in the news and in life

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More or Less: How many butterflies are there in the world?

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How many butterflies are there in the world?

19/08/2023 GMT

BBC World Service - More or Less, How many butterflies are there in the world?

The world’s butterfly population doesn’t seem to be online – so what is it?

Butterflies are a much-loved feature of summer in many parts of the world. But how many of them are there on Earth? 

That’s the question a young listener to More or Less wanted an answer to – and she couldn’t find the answer no matter how hard she searched the internet.

Presenter Daniel Gordon enlists Professor Jane Hill, a butterfly expert at York University, England, who’s also President of the Royal Entomological Society, to try and help solve the mystery.

He also consults Holly Mynott, International Officer of Butterfly Conservation, who describes the techniques used to run The Big Butterfly Count in the UK – the biggest event of its kind in the world.

Producer/Presenter: Daniel Gordon
Series Producer: Jon Bithrey
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production Co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound Engineer: Graham Puddifoot

(Argyreus Hyperbius Butterflies in Bupyeong, Incheon, South Korea /Getty images)

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