Insect Conservation : Finding and Protecting the Invisible Inheritors

Most of the world s insects live and disappear without ever being seen. While conservation efforts frequently spotlight the most familiar and charismatic species, the vast majority of insects remain unnoticed: abundant yet overlooked, ecologically vital yet scientifically neglected. These invisible insects mirror the plight of countless other invertebrate groups species whose extinction may pass entirely unrecorded, never having entered human awareness.

Insect Conservation: Finding and Protecting the Invisible Inheritors confronts this challenge directly. It reveals how invisibility whether through lack of study, limited public appeal, or gaps in taxonomic and ecological knowledge creates profound obstacles for conservation. Yet the lessons learned from well known insects can be extended to safeguard their lesser known counterparts, gradually building the scientific and public support needed to protect the full spectrum of insect diversity.

Written for naturalists, conservation managers, ecologists, and anyone concerned about biodiversity loss, this book explores insect conservation from three complementary angles. Part I examines the scale of the challenge: understanding insect diversity, recognising patterns of decline, and appreciating the functional roles insects play in sustaining terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. Part II introduces the major themes and scales of conservation practice, aligning insect conservation with broader environmental efforts. Part III shows how insights from well documented and publicly recognised insects can be applied to help secure the future of the invisible majority.

Urgent and accessible, this book highlights why increasing public awareness and the conservation profile of insect diversity is essential. Invisible insects vastly outnumber the species we know well, yet their ecological contributions underpin the living world. Through clear explanations, recent research, and independently referenced chapters, this volume offers both an introduction and a call to action inviting readers to help safeguard Earth s most overlooked inheritors.

Part I. Understanding Insect Diversity, Conservation Need and Ecological Worth.- Chapter 1. The Invisible Insects: Hidden Insect Diversity.- Chapter 2. Insect Extinctions and Declines.- Chapter 3. Insect Functions in Ecosystems.- Part II. The Main Conservation Targets.- Chapter 4. Targets for Conservation: Species.- Chapter 5. Targets for Conservation: Insect Biodiversity.- Chapter 6. Targets for Conservation: A Place to Live.- Part III. Conservation Progress and the Future for Invisible Insects.- Chapter 7. Conservation Lessons from the Visible Insects.- Chapter 8. Increasing Insect Visibility and Security.

Professor Tim R. New is an entomologist with wide interests in insect ecology, conservation and systematics, and has published extensively in those areas, with more than 50 books and numerous research papers and reviews. He is a past Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Insect Conservation, and is recognised widely for his promotion of insect conservation in Australia and elsewhere.