There are an estimated 10 quintillion individual insects alive on Earth at any given moment, according to the Smithsonian Institution — roughly 1.2 billion insects for every person alive today.

There are an estimated 10 quintillion individual insects alive on Earth at any given moment, according to the Smithsonian Institution — roughly 1.2 billion insects for every person alive today.

Stand still in a field for a minute and picture the insects sharing that patch of ground with you. Now stretch the picture out to the whole planet, every soil crumb, tree canopy, rotting log and puddle at once. The Smithsonian’s tally for that scene is a number most of us have no way to feel: “At any time, it is estimated that there are some 10 quintillion” individual insects alive, per the Smithsonian’s own figure. Split that across the roughly…