The billion-bug highway

Have you ever wondered how many bugs are floating around in the atmosphere above you? I have, but maybe I'm just weird. Either way, there's finally an answer to this question: around 3 billion bugs per month (bpm). NPR reports:

When British scientist Jason Chapman told us (listen to the radio piece or watch our video) there are 3 billion insects passing over your head in a summer month, he was talking about his survey in Great Britain. Closer to the equator, he says, the numbers should rise. He wouldn't be surprised, for example, that in the sky over Houston or New Orleans there could be 6 billion critters passing overhead in a month.

Why are they up there? The article goes on:

Sometimes insects and spiders need to leave where they are and go someplace else for food, for sex, for space. For a variety of reasons bugs disperse.

Bugs have been found over the Atlantic "at 2,460 to 5,410 feet and over Greenland at 7,870 to 12,135 feet"; the record-holder is a single termite that was captured at 19,000 feet.

You can read more here.