Research into the welfare of invertebrates is one of the fastest-growing areas in welfare science, driven by new evidence on insect cognition, bee emotions, and cephalopod intelligence.
Invertebrate welfare research is expanding the scientific frontier of what we consider morally relevant suffering. As evidence accumulates that bees may experience something like emotions, that octopuses actively manage their own pain, and that insects show persistent pain states, the case for precautionary welfare consideration of billions of invertebrate individuals becomes stronger. The scale of invertebrate use in agriculture, pest control, and food production means that even modest welfare probabilities across massive numbers represent enormous aggregate concern.