Insect welfare in farmed, wild, and research contexts

Understanding and protecting the welfare of insects

This profile is tailored towards students studying agricultural sciences, biological sciences, philosophy and ethics, and psychology and cognitive sciences, however we expect there to be valuable open research questions that could be pursued by students in other disciplines.

Why is this a pressing problem?

10 quadrillion insects are alive on the planet at any given time, with quadrillions impacted by human management practices (such as neurotoxic pesticide application). Over 1.2 trillion insects are farmed each year in the Insects as Food and Feed (IAFF) industry; by 2030, it is expected that at least 8 trillion insects will be farmed, and the industry will only continue to grow. Billions of insects are used in research labs each year with little focus on their welfare during rearing and experimentation. Insect use and management occurs at a scale rarely seen across the animal taxa; despite this scale, their welfare has largely been neglected.

Data on insect sentience suggests that many groups may plausibly feel pain; evidence is strongest for Diptera (flies, mosquitoes) and Blattodea (cockroaches, termites) at the adult life stage, as each order contains model species for the study of nociception and/or affective disorders. Still, insect sentience is uncertain and more research is needed, particularly on other taxa and life stages. In addition, it is essential to begin the process of discovering and promoting methods of humane treatment in wild, farmed, and research contexts while our knowledge of whether insects feel pain continues to grow.

Contributors: This profile was published 10/05/23. Thanks to Meghan Barrett for writing this profile. Learn more about how we create our profiles.