Insects constitute the vast majority of animal life on Earth, with growing scientific evidence suggesting some insects may have capacity for pain and suffering - raising welfare questions of unprecedented scale.
Insect welfare represents perhaps the most consequential and underexplored question in animal welfare. If insects have even a rudimentary capacity for suffering, the scale of their numbers makes the aggregate welfare implications of insect farming, pest control, and habitat loss utterly staggering. The scientific question is genuine: recent research finding pessimistic cognitive bias in bees suggests emotional states more complex than simple reflexes. The precautionary principle - taking welfare seriously when sentience is uncertain - applied to insects would transform our relationship with the natural world. Even very small probabilities of sentience, multiplied by 10 quintillion individuals, produce morally significant expected welfare impacts. The rapid decline of insect populations is both an ecological and potential welfare crisis.