Emerging evidence for insect sentience is beginning to influence policy. Understanding the science and its implications helps advocates engage effectively with this frontier welfare issue.
The insect sentience question is perhaps the most consequential unresolved issue in contemporary animal welfare science. If insects experience something like suffering - even in a simple form - then the scale of insect farming, pest control, and habitat destruction represents a welfare problem of almost incomprehensible magnitude. The scientific and philosophical communities are beginning to take this seriously. Policy lags significantly behind, but the pattern of moral circle expansion seen with fish and crustaceans suggests that insect welfare may eventually achieve some form of legal recognition.