With quintillions of insects alive at any moment and insect farming growing rapidly, the welfare implications of insect sentience are potentially enormous and deserve serious consideration.
Insect welfare occupies genuinely uncertain scientific territory. The evidence for rich subjective experience in insects is weaker than for vertebrates, but the evidence that insects have no welfare-relevant inner states is also weak. Given the staggering numbers of insects involved in farming, pest control and habitat destruction, even a small probability of morally relevant suffering implies enormous stakes. Precautionary approaches — preferring slaughter methods that minimize potential suffering, avoiding overcrowding in insect farms, and investing in research — seem warranted even under uncertainty.